The Conversation on Foreign and Security Policy in Germany: A Rant
So I've been hinting before at the vague possibility of there being a rant on the status of the conversation on security policy in Germany in the future of this blog, right? I've been kind of procrastinating on it because I knew it would be a long, rambling and possibly not really intelligible post because I'm just so fed up with the vast disinterest Germans have in security policy and security politics. I know I've hinted at this before, mostly in my reviews on books in the Fifty in Twelve tag, and the fact that I should be writing job applications right now is definitely why I finally decided to sit down and articulate my dissatisfaction a little clearer and in more detail.
It's probably still going to be long, rambling and not really intelligible, though.
Anyway. Before I start, let me say that yes, I do get that as someone whose academic focus has been on issues related to security policy in one way or the other for a couple of years, I am aware of the fact that I'm more interested in it than the average German citizen, just as people who are professionally and/or academically involved in say climate change research know more about climate change and are interested more in anything that relates to it than people who are not professionally active in the field, and that I am severely biased in that regard. I know that anyone not professionally and/or academically engaged with the topic most probably doesn't know as much and is less interested than I am.
That said: I still find it let's say frustrating to see just how little interest security policy generates in Germany. Sure, every time the Cheetoh-in-Chief triggers another international crisis (or at least has serious foreign and security policy experts and professionals face palm really, really hard) on Twitter, all the armchair experts come crawling out of the woodwork and try to lecture everyone on Facebook, just like with every other topic, but aside from that, serious and regular discussion on security policy topics is, at least in Germany, the domain of maybe a handful of experts (most of them male, BTW *rolls eyes). There is no broad conversation, spread across society as a whole, on any topics in foreign and/or security policy, like you have, for example in issues like housing, social justice or migration (even though at least the last one is inseperably linked to both foreign and security policy, see the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Daesh and the refugee crisis). And that's mostly due to the fact that Germans simply don't care about either.
In Germany, generally security policy only gathers interest when it's about inner security, that is everything to do with law enforcement and threats on public security within the German state. That is, in itself, a good thing because those questions touch on very fundamental issues like liberty, democracy and civil rights so that's not what I'm criticizing here. What I'm criticizing is that for most people, security policy is only about inner security and that foreign policy generally doesn't get any attention beyond the occassional outcry about a Cheetoh-in-Chief clusterfuck or the latest Erdogan SNAFU. Add in all the confusion, downright animosity and quite frankly ignorance surrounding anything to do with the EU* and it's a fun place for any foreign policy expert.
All in all, there is something that can be described as "friendly disinterest". People don't actively disparage foreign and security policy as superfluous or boring but they sure act like it is for them. Selective single issues do garner a bit of interest - like I said, Cheetoh-in-Chief's Twitter meltdowns for one - but during elections, foreign and security policy has little to no impact in most voters' decisions (which is why it's a bit laughable that the Left Party still tries to fool themselves into thinking that "the people vote for us because we're the only party categorically voting against military deployments and expect us to uphold that stance" because, newsflash, people don't give a shit whether they vote for or against any deployments. Most people don't even know that Afghanistan is not the only place the Bundeswehr is deployed to, even though all deployments are publicly visible if you google for maybe thirty seconds), simply because political parties across the spectrum don't make it an issue.
There is also a very comprehensive annual research report on security policy and the German population, published by the German Armed Forces' research institute for military history and social science, the ZMSBw. All of them have been made available to the public, and the latest one is for 2017. They examine the German public's opinion and knowledge of German foreign and security policy and their attitude towards the German Armed Forces, especially regarding the Bundeswehr as employer and military out of area deployments. In general, the majority feels safe (with the feeling of socio-economic safety currently getting worse) and views the Bundeswehr positively, as well as out of area deployments, even though the majority prefers diplomatic/political solutions to military solutions to foreign and security problems and conflicts. However, the research reports have been steadily revealing that most people taking part don't actually know that much about either the conflicts Germany is involved in or the ways and locations German soldiers are deployed all over the world. And that is the entire problem.
Okay, you say, you are a person deeply involved with foreign and security policy and you really, really want to work in the field, so of course you'd see that as a problem but come on, why should we care? It's arcane, it's complicated, it's boring, and it really doesn't have an impact on my daily life (unlike, say, housing, social justice or infractructure and transporation). What's all of that got to do with me, and why the hell should we care?
I'll tell you why: because we're all in this together, that's why.
Consider this: every time German soldiers go off to war, in places like Afghanistan, Mali or Iraq, we send them there. Wait, you’ll say, we? I didn’t send anyone anywhere, leave me out of this shit. Yes, I say, we. Because here’s the thing: every one of those deployments has to go through the German parliament (and, even when they’re unarmed deployments such as UNOMIG or UNMISS which don’t have to go through the Bundestag, these decisions are still made by people who are in the position to make them because they were either elected to it or where put there by someone who was elected), and in that parliament are representatives who represent us, regardless of whether we voted for them or not and regardless of whether we went to vote or not in the first place**. All of us are someone’s constituent, so those people get sent to war by all of us.
It matters who represents each of us and who gets in a position where they can send off people to war. It might not matter to you because it really doesn’t touch your daily life in any way but it sure as hell matters to the soldiers, foreign service officers and intelligence agency officers who get sent to a foreign country to fight and possibly get killed or wounded there and their families. Think of this when the next national or European election comes rolling around***, and challenge your local parties and candidates. Ask them about their foreign and security policy positions. Call them, write them e-mails, @ them on Twitter, I really don’t care as long as you ask them and hold them accountable for their decisions. And educate yourselves on the most important issues in foreign and security policy so you damn well know how to judge their answers.
There’s also another reason why you should educate yourself and show more than just a cursory interest now and then when the Cheetoh-in-Chief has another meltdown or goes on an attack on the EU or NATO: we all live in this world, and most of us don’t have the assets that make it possible to be aloof to what happens in it. I was being literal when I said that we’re all in this together. Maybe right now, you keep wondering why the fuck you should care about Ukraine or Yemen or South America or what Australia is doing in parts of the Pacific and yes, I get it. It’s far away (for most of you), you (probably) have no personal stake in any of those conflicts, and you know for sure (or think you know for sure) that you’re not going to be personally impacted by any of it.
But remember when I said that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Daesh and the refugee crisis of 2015 are all directly connected to each other? Yeah, exactly. We live in an extremely interconnected world. When something happens in a supposedly remote part of it, it will affect people living really far away from it at some point. Drugs consumed in Berlin or London or Los Angeles such as cocaine or heroin don’t come from some place outside the realm of reality. They come from South America or Afghanistan, and the profits made in Berlin or London or Los Angeles go on to finance organized crime that negatively impacts the lives of a lot of people (and that’s saying it nicely) and/or terrorism (seriously. There are really disturbing overlays between organized crime, the drug trade and extremist terrorism that honestly, everyone should at least know the basics of and be really fucking concerned about), and that’s just one example out of many.
But sure, if you need another one: climate change is going to impact national and international security in a myriad of ways. The Pentagon, for example, has identified climate change as probably the number one threat to US national security over and over again, and keeps doing so even in the Trump era. You seriously should know this stuff. Because you will feel its impact at some point in your life. It sounds like it’s something for nerds but it’s so fucking important to all of us.
Or take the increasing militarization of law enforcement, happening not just in the US or in dictatorships but in a number of other democratic states as well. This is where inner and outer security policy intersect, and it’s fucking terrifying. You really need to educate yourself about the impact of militarization of everyday life, no matter whether you agree that it’s happening or not, and you need to be able to come to an informed opinion on this because this is really fucking important. And yes, I mean that it’s really fucking important for your personal everyday life.
I’m not saying, of course, that everyone has to become an expert. What I’m saying is that you should listen when these issues are discussed in the news and you should read maybe more than just the occasional SPON or NYT or Times or El País article on the latest Cheetoh-in-Chief’s clusterfuck. Show an active interest when issues in foreign and security policy are discussed in your country’s democratic institutions, educate yourself about the positions on foreign and security policy of your country’s major political parties, read up on the basics and fundamentals of international relations, military history and security policy and stop thinking it’s never going to affect you in any way.
And when we all do that, maybe we’ll have, at some point, the broad conversation on security policy I have been craving for years now. I don’t think it’s very likely for this to happen for a number of reason, especially in Germany but hey, a girl can dream, right?
Anyway, if you don’t know where to start or what to read, some of the non-fiction books in my Fifty in Twelve tag might be a good starting point. I also plan to put together a list of blogs and podcasts I find really helpful in keeping up with the most important issues and developments on here, so keep an eye for that, too. And if you have questions, I am here. You can send me a DM or you can ask in a comment or you can hit me up on Twitter, and I’ll take the time to answer to my best ability (or tell you who would be better suited for that particular question). Don’t be shy, and please don’t keep being mired in that “That doesn’t have anything to do with me, plus it’s boring and complicated” mind-set that is so detrimental. It’s absolutely not embarrassing when you don’t really have an idea about security policy. But it’s a seriously bad idea to continue being ignorant. So please don’t do that.
*this has lessened somewhat since the Brexit referendum which apparently served to make at least some parts of German society realize that maybe, after all, this EU thing wasn't such a bad idea, after all but in general, there's still a lot of ignorance and disinterest surrounding the EU. I might be wrong about this for various reasons but I'm pretty sure we'll see this in the turnout for the European parliament elections next year once again, just like we have seen it in the turnout for every European parliament election before.
**this, by the way, applies to everyone who lives in a democratic state, be they NATO members or not because it’s your democratically elected leaders - parliamentary representatives or presidents, really doesn’t matter - who decide to send soldiers, foreign service officers and intelligence agency officers to war, where they could be potentially killed or wounded. This is literally a matter of life and death. Maybe not for you but definitely for the people who get sent to war and their families. So show some damn interest, for fuck’s sake.
***2019. I’m talking about 2019. There will be a European election in May (so this definitely also applies to all of you who are citizens of other EU member states, not just the Germans), and there still might be a German national election, if the Social Democrats get their shit together and do something right for a change.
It's probably still going to be long, rambling and not really intelligible, though.
Anyway. Before I start, let me say that yes, I do get that as someone whose academic focus has been on issues related to security policy in one way or the other for a couple of years, I am aware of the fact that I'm more interested in it than the average German citizen, just as people who are professionally and/or academically involved in say climate change research know more about climate change and are interested more in anything that relates to it than people who are not professionally active in the field, and that I am severely biased in that regard. I know that anyone not professionally and/or academically engaged with the topic most probably doesn't know as much and is less interested than I am.
That said: I still find it let's say frustrating to see just how little interest security policy generates in Germany. Sure, every time the Cheetoh-in-Chief triggers another international crisis (or at least has serious foreign and security policy experts and professionals face palm really, really hard) on Twitter, all the armchair experts come crawling out of the woodwork and try to lecture everyone on Facebook, just like with every other topic, but aside from that, serious and regular discussion on security policy topics is, at least in Germany, the domain of maybe a handful of experts (most of them male, BTW *rolls eyes). There is no broad conversation, spread across society as a whole, on any topics in foreign and/or security policy, like you have, for example in issues like housing, social justice or migration (even though at least the last one is inseperably linked to both foreign and security policy, see the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Daesh and the refugee crisis). And that's mostly due to the fact that Germans simply don't care about either.
In Germany, generally security policy only gathers interest when it's about inner security, that is everything to do with law enforcement and threats on public security within the German state. That is, in itself, a good thing because those questions touch on very fundamental issues like liberty, democracy and civil rights so that's not what I'm criticizing here. What I'm criticizing is that for most people, security policy is only about inner security and that foreign policy generally doesn't get any attention beyond the occassional outcry about a Cheetoh-in-Chief clusterfuck or the latest Erdogan SNAFU. Add in all the confusion, downright animosity and quite frankly ignorance surrounding anything to do with the EU* and it's a fun place for any foreign policy expert.
All in all, there is something that can be described as "friendly disinterest". People don't actively disparage foreign and security policy as superfluous or boring but they sure act like it is for them. Selective single issues do garner a bit of interest - like I said, Cheetoh-in-Chief's Twitter meltdowns for one - but during elections, foreign and security policy has little to no impact in most voters' decisions (which is why it's a bit laughable that the Left Party still tries to fool themselves into thinking that "the people vote for us because we're the only party categorically voting against military deployments and expect us to uphold that stance" because, newsflash, people don't give a shit whether they vote for or against any deployments. Most people don't even know that Afghanistan is not the only place the Bundeswehr is deployed to, even though all deployments are publicly visible if you google for maybe thirty seconds), simply because political parties across the spectrum don't make it an issue.
There is also a very comprehensive annual research report on security policy and the German population, published by the German Armed Forces' research institute for military history and social science, the ZMSBw. All of them have been made available to the public, and the latest one is for 2017. They examine the German public's opinion and knowledge of German foreign and security policy and their attitude towards the German Armed Forces, especially regarding the Bundeswehr as employer and military out of area deployments. In general, the majority feels safe (with the feeling of socio-economic safety currently getting worse) and views the Bundeswehr positively, as well as out of area deployments, even though the majority prefers diplomatic/political solutions to military solutions to foreign and security problems and conflicts. However, the research reports have been steadily revealing that most people taking part don't actually know that much about either the conflicts Germany is involved in or the ways and locations German soldiers are deployed all over the world. And that is the entire problem.
Okay, you say, you are a person deeply involved with foreign and security policy and you really, really want to work in the field, so of course you'd see that as a problem but come on, why should we care? It's arcane, it's complicated, it's boring, and it really doesn't have an impact on my daily life (unlike, say, housing, social justice or infractructure and transporation). What's all of that got to do with me, and why the hell should we care?
I'll tell you why: because we're all in this together, that's why.
Consider this: every time German soldiers go off to war, in places like Afghanistan, Mali or Iraq, we send them there. Wait, you’ll say, we? I didn’t send anyone anywhere, leave me out of this shit. Yes, I say, we. Because here’s the thing: every one of those deployments has to go through the German parliament (and, even when they’re unarmed deployments such as UNOMIG or UNMISS which don’t have to go through the Bundestag, these decisions are still made by people who are in the position to make them because they were either elected to it or where put there by someone who was elected), and in that parliament are representatives who represent us, regardless of whether we voted for them or not and regardless of whether we went to vote or not in the first place**. All of us are someone’s constituent, so those people get sent to war by all of us.
It matters who represents each of us and who gets in a position where they can send off people to war. It might not matter to you because it really doesn’t touch your daily life in any way but it sure as hell matters to the soldiers, foreign service officers and intelligence agency officers who get sent to a foreign country to fight and possibly get killed or wounded there and their families. Think of this when the next national or European election comes rolling around***, and challenge your local parties and candidates. Ask them about their foreign and security policy positions. Call them, write them e-mails, @ them on Twitter, I really don’t care as long as you ask them and hold them accountable for their decisions. And educate yourselves on the most important issues in foreign and security policy so you damn well know how to judge their answers.
There’s also another reason why you should educate yourself and show more than just a cursory interest now and then when the Cheetoh-in-Chief has another meltdown or goes on an attack on the EU or NATO: we all live in this world, and most of us don’t have the assets that make it possible to be aloof to what happens in it. I was being literal when I said that we’re all in this together. Maybe right now, you keep wondering why the fuck you should care about Ukraine or Yemen or South America or what Australia is doing in parts of the Pacific and yes, I get it. It’s far away (for most of you), you (probably) have no personal stake in any of those conflicts, and you know for sure (or think you know for sure) that you’re not going to be personally impacted by any of it.
But remember when I said that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the rise of Daesh and the refugee crisis of 2015 are all directly connected to each other? Yeah, exactly. We live in an extremely interconnected world. When something happens in a supposedly remote part of it, it will affect people living really far away from it at some point. Drugs consumed in Berlin or London or Los Angeles such as cocaine or heroin don’t come from some place outside the realm of reality. They come from South America or Afghanistan, and the profits made in Berlin or London or Los Angeles go on to finance organized crime that negatively impacts the lives of a lot of people (and that’s saying it nicely) and/or terrorism (seriously. There are really disturbing overlays between organized crime, the drug trade and extremist terrorism that honestly, everyone should at least know the basics of and be really fucking concerned about), and that’s just one example out of many.
But sure, if you need another one: climate change is going to impact national and international security in a myriad of ways. The Pentagon, for example, has identified climate change as probably the number one threat to US national security over and over again, and keeps doing so even in the Trump era. You seriously should know this stuff. Because you will feel its impact at some point in your life. It sounds like it’s something for nerds but it’s so fucking important to all of us.
Or take the increasing militarization of law enforcement, happening not just in the US or in dictatorships but in a number of other democratic states as well. This is where inner and outer security policy intersect, and it’s fucking terrifying. You really need to educate yourself about the impact of militarization of everyday life, no matter whether you agree that it’s happening or not, and you need to be able to come to an informed opinion on this because this is really fucking important. And yes, I mean that it’s really fucking important for your personal everyday life.
I’m not saying, of course, that everyone has to become an expert. What I’m saying is that you should listen when these issues are discussed in the news and you should read maybe more than just the occasional SPON or NYT or Times or El País article on the latest Cheetoh-in-Chief’s clusterfuck. Show an active interest when issues in foreign and security policy are discussed in your country’s democratic institutions, educate yourself about the positions on foreign and security policy of your country’s major political parties, read up on the basics and fundamentals of international relations, military history and security policy and stop thinking it’s never going to affect you in any way.
And when we all do that, maybe we’ll have, at some point, the broad conversation on security policy I have been craving for years now. I don’t think it’s very likely for this to happen for a number of reason, especially in Germany but hey, a girl can dream, right?
Anyway, if you don’t know where to start or what to read, some of the non-fiction books in my Fifty in Twelve tag might be a good starting point. I also plan to put together a list of blogs and podcasts I find really helpful in keeping up with the most important issues and developments on here, so keep an eye for that, too. And if you have questions, I am here. You can send me a DM or you can ask in a comment or you can hit me up on Twitter, and I’ll take the time to answer to my best ability (or tell you who would be better suited for that particular question). Don’t be shy, and please don’t keep being mired in that “That doesn’t have anything to do with me, plus it’s boring and complicated” mind-set that is so detrimental. It’s absolutely not embarrassing when you don’t really have an idea about security policy. But it’s a seriously bad idea to continue being ignorant. So please don’t do that.
*this has lessened somewhat since the Brexit referendum which apparently served to make at least some parts of German society realize that maybe, after all, this EU thing wasn't such a bad idea, after all but in general, there's still a lot of ignorance and disinterest surrounding the EU. I might be wrong about this for various reasons but I'm pretty sure we'll see this in the turnout for the European parliament elections next year once again, just like we have seen it in the turnout for every European parliament election before.
**this, by the way, applies to everyone who lives in a democratic state, be they NATO members or not because it’s your democratically elected leaders - parliamentary representatives or presidents, really doesn’t matter - who decide to send soldiers, foreign service officers and intelligence agency officers to war, where they could be potentially killed or wounded. This is literally a matter of life and death. Maybe not for you but definitely for the people who get sent to war and their families. So show some damn interest, for fuck’s sake.
***2019. I’m talking about 2019. There will be a European election in May (so this definitely also applies to all of you who are citizens of other EU member states, not just the Germans), and there still might be a German national election, if the Social Democrats get their shit together and do something right for a change.