Challenge
NEW YORK/BRUXELLES/MUNICH (Own report) At the impending NATO-meeting in Brussels, the German government would like to break US resistance to Germany's receiving a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and will offer military compromises in return. A corresponding series of propositions, linking the preservation of NATO to Berlin's UN aspirations were advanced by the German Chancellor and his Foreign Minister in Munich last weekend. The public understood these propositions as a potential rejection of the western military alliance. But as one learns from the entourage of the Coordinator for German-American Cooperation, Karsten Voigt, these propositions were intended to ,,construct a scenario of threats". Berlin is prepared to make a ,,substantial"military ,,increase"and relieve US strain, if Washington is willing to pay the price. To underline this military preparedness, the German Minister of Defense announced (in the wings of the Munich Conference) supplementary overseas deployments of the German military.
In repeated allusions to Berlin's demand for a permanent seat on the Security Council, Schröder and Fischer hinted that NATO ,,is not the principal setting for transatlantic partners to consult and coordinate their strategic intentions". 1)The international ,,challenges"are more of a political nature. Because Germany sees itself as ,,co-responsible for international stability and order", it must also insist upon having ,,its say"in political matters. ,,Our aspiration for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council arises from this context of attaining legitimization"Schröder said on February 22, during the preparations for the NATO summit, at which the US President will participate.
Endowments
Washington boycotted German attempts to gain big-power status in the UN Security Council and the attempt to politically enter the league with the USA, Russia and the Peoples Republic of China. Washington is also supported by Italy and Poland, who are suspicious of German endeavors aimed at hegemony. Efforts by the German Foreign Ministry to counteract this group of countries were thwarted by the US. Recently the German Foreign Ministry tried to entice the support of several Asian states through endowments, but this met with reservation and American intrigues.
Inclusive
To achieve the German UN vision, Berlin is offering the US a deal: political big-power status in exchange for military relief. If Washington is willing to share the Security Council with Germany, Berlin could widen its international military interventions. This is why the German Defense Minister, Struck, already announced at the NATO-meeting in Nice, that Germany is extending its deployments in Afghanistan to another region in the North of the country. In Munich, the German Defense Minister repeated his offer to advance the militarization of German foreign policy. Concerning the Near East, Berlin is prepared ,,to play a role in the maintenance of peace in the region"if there is an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. 2)The Chairman of NATO's military commission, the German general Kujat is also considering sending NATO troops to the Near East - including Bundeswehr troops.
Successful
The German government is offering still another foreign military deployment: in Africa. When the UN General Secretary, Kofi Annan, seized the occasion of the Munich conference to propose corresponding ,,measures"to be taken for the Sudan, Berlin immediately declared its readiness, in principle, to send German troops. 3)Annan's presence in Munich at the time, (justified by the presentation of an award) was seen as his support for Berlin's UN ambitions. The German Foreign Ministry has been successful in its year long attempts to win the current General Secretary over to its plans.
Smashed
Whether US foreign policy will take up on Germany's offer remains unclear. Washington's hopes that the German opposition parties could counter the planned deal through creating a national scandal, before the NATO-summit would took place, were smashed. Both the opposition conservatives and the liberals (CDU/CSU and the FDP) are in support of the demand for big-power political status, the parallel expansion of military expeditions and the preparations by the Foreign Ministry for the negotiations in Brussels.
1) Gerhard Schröder: Rede auf der XLI. Münchner Konferenz für Sicherheitspolitik; www.securityconference.de 12.02.2005
2) Struck für deutschen Beitrag zu Nahost-Friedenssicherung; Financial Times Deutschland 12.02.2005
3) see also Soldering Technique