The Politics of Military Force

The Politics of Military Force

Author: Frank Stengel

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2020-12-08

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0472132210

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The Politics of Military Force examines the dynamics of discursive change that made participation in military operations possible against the background of German antimilitarist culture. Once considered a strict taboo, so-called out-of-area operations have now become widely considered by German policymakers to be without alternative. The book argues that an understanding of how certain policies are made possible (in this case, military operations abroad and force transformation), one needs to focus on processes of discursive change that result in different policy options appearing rational, appropriate, feasible, or even self-evident. Drawing on Essex School discourse theory, the book develops a theoretical framework to understand how discursive change works, and elaborates on how discursive change makes once unthinkable policy options not only acceptable but even without alternative. Based on a detailed discourse analysis of more than 25 years of German parliamentary debates, The Politics of Military Force provides an explanation for: (1) the emergence of a new hegemonic discourse in German security policy after the end of the Cold War (discursive change), (2) the rearticulation of German antimilitarism in the process (ideational change/norm erosion) and (3) the resulting making-possible of military operations and force transformation (policy change). In doing so, the book also demonstrates the added value of a poststructuralist approach compared to the naive realism and linear conceptions of norm change so prominent in the study of German foreign policy and International Relations more generally.


The Politics of German Defence and Security

The Politics of German Defence and Security

Author: Tom Dyson

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2008-03-01

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 0857450239

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The post-Cold War era has witnessed a dramatic transformation in the German political consensus about the legitimacy of the use of force. However, in comparison with its EU and NATO partners, Germany has been reticent to transform its military to meet the challenges of the contemporary security environment. Until 2003 territorial defence rather than crisis-management remained the armed forces' core role and the Bundeswehr continues to retain conscription. The book argues that 'strategic culture' provides only a partial explanation of German military reform. It demonstrates how domestic material factors were of crucial importance in shaping the pace and outcome of reform, despite the impact of 'international structure' and adaptational pressures from the EU and NATO. The domestic politics of base closures, ramifications for social policy, financial restrictions consequent upon German unification and commitment to EMU's Stability and Growth Pact were critical in determining the outcome of reform. The study also draws out the important role of policy leaders in the political management of reform as entrepreneurs, brokers or veto players, shifting the focus in German leadership studies away from a preoccupation with the Chancellor to the role of ministerial and administrative leadership within the core executive. Finally, the book contributes to our understanding of the Europeanization of the German political system, arguing that policy leaders played a key role in 'uploading' and 'downloading' processes to and from the EU and that Defence Ministers used 'Atlanticization' and 'Europeanization' in the interests of their domestic political agendas.


Germany and the Use of Force

Germany and the Use of Force

Author: Kerry Longhurst

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9780719067082

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In this study of German security policy after Iraq, Kerry Longhurst considers the evolution of Germany's peculiar approach to the use of force after the Cold War through the conceptual prism of strategic culture.


Germany and the Use of Force

Germany and the Use of Force

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9781781700570

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"Mobilising the concept of strategic culture, this study develops a sophisticated and innovative framework to understand developments in German security policy between 1990 and 2003. Germany's contemporary security policies are characterised by a peculiar mix of continuity and change. From abstention in the first Gulf war, to early peacekeeping missions in Bosnia in the early 1990s and a full combat role in Kosovo in 1999, the pace of change in German security policy since the end of the Cold War has been breathtaking. The extent of this change has recently, however, been questioned, as seen most vividly in Berlin's response to '9/11' and its subsequent stalwart opposition to the US-led war on terrorism in Iraq in 2003. Beginning with a consideration of the notion of strategic culture, the study refines and adapts the concept to the case of Germany through a consideration of aspects of the rearmament of West Germany. The study then critically evaluates the transformation of the role of the Bundeswehr up to and including the war on terrorism, together with Germany's troubled efforts to enact defence reforms as well as the complex politics surrounding the policy of conscription. By focusing on both the 'domestics' of security policy decision making as well as the changing and often contradictory expectations of Germany's allies, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the role played by Germany's particular strategic culture in shaping policy choices. The book concludes by pointing to the vibrancy of Germany's strategic culture and argues that it will continue to define Berlin's approach to the use of force. Crucially, this may mean that Germany's perspectives may depart substantially from those of its key partners and allies. This book is essential reading for all those interested in contemporary European security as well as German politics"--Publisher's description.


Developments in German Politics 2

Developments in German Politics 2

Author: Gordon Smith

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780822318880

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Part One discusses the nature of the unified state, electoral behavior, the "new" party system, and changing territorial balances. Part Two looks at Germany's new international position through analyses of foreign policy, security policy, and Germany's relationship to the European Community. Part Three examines economic, social, and environmental policy, while Part Four addresses questions of immigration and the labor market, women, and a new German identity.


German Security Policy: Continuity and Change

German Security Policy: Continuity and Change

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 103

ISBN-13:

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This study examines the continuities and changes in the security policies of the newly reunified Germany, and provides background for American policy makers and strategists concerned with questions about Germany's future. Germany's actions in the year and a half since unification have been less than reassuring for American statesmen. In the Gulf War, Germany refused to participate militarily in the American led coalition on constitutional grounds. Then in December of 1991, Germany refused to go along with the policies of the United States and its major European allies linking recognition of Yugoslavian republics to an overall settlement of the civil war in that country. In pursuing these initiatives, Germany demonstrated that it no longer occupied the position of junior partner to the United States in the foreign policy field and that it had national security policies of its own to pursue which were sometimes more European than Atlantic oriented. This attitude unjustifiably alarmed many American and European statesmen who had grown comfortable with the passive policies of the West German government and the constraints that the cold war had built into the European security system. The year 1989 marked the end of the cold war and forces Germany to contend with global responsibilities and influence that it has not had to contend with since 1945 using the statecraft that it has evolved since that time. This study covers the historical development of the present political culture, the sources of change in Germany, and a case study of the Yugoslavian conflict.


Cyber Security Politics

Cyber Security Politics

Author: Myriam Dunn Cavelty

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-02-15

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 1000567117

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This book examines new and challenging political aspects of cyber security and presents it as an issue defined by socio-technological uncertainty and political fragmentation. Structured along two broad themes and providing empirical examples for how socio-technical changes and political responses interact, the first part of the book looks at the current use of cyber space in conflictual settings, while the second focuses on political responses by state and non-state actors in an environment defined by uncertainties. Within this, it highlights four key debates that encapsulate the complexities and paradoxes of cyber security politics from a Western perspective – how much political influence states can achieve via cyber operations and what context factors condition the (limited) strategic utility of such operations; the role of emerging digital technologies and how the dynamics of the tech innovation process reinforce the fragmentation of the governance space; how states attempt to uphold stability in cyberspace and, more generally, in their strategic relations; and how the shared responsibility of state, economy, and society for cyber security continues to be re-negotiated in an increasingly trans-sectoral and transnational governance space. This book will be of much interest to students of cyber security, global governance, technology studies, and international relations. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.


German Security Policy in the 21st Century

German Security Policy in the 21st Century

Author: Holger H. Mey

Publisher: Campus Verlag

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9781571816634

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"Berlin, 12 January 2030 - The crisis worsens. The Chancellor reaches for the telephone. He instructs his anteroom to put through a call to Germany's most important ally in order to discuss the situation and determine a further course of action." With whom would the chancellor speak? With the American, the French, or maybe even the Russian president? Or will the Chancellor only exercise representative functions while the real responsibility and decision-making authority lies with the President of the United Regions of Europe? This volume invites policy makers and politicians to use their imagination, to look beyond current events and take a long-term view on possible developments. Such projections, the author argues, lead to interesting conclusions for strategic planning.


Germany and the use of force

Germany and the use of force

Author: Kerry Longhurst

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2013-07-19

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1847795900

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This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. While developments in the 1990s saw Germany move away from its rigidly prohibitive stance towards the use of force, Berlin's policy in the war on terrorism suggested that Germany may be retreating into a new form of self-imposed restraint. In this first major English language study of German security policy after Iraq, Kerry Longhurst considers the evolution of Germany's peculiar approach to the use of force after the Cold War through the conceptual prism of strategic culture. The timeliness of this volume brings with it fresh analysis of the origins and substance of Germany's strategic culture, which the author subsequently explores in a contemporary context against the background of the changing role of the Bundeswehr from 1990-2003. The book also provides unique and in-depth analysis of Germany's troubled efforts at defense sector reform in the 1990s and considers the complex politics surrounding conscription.