Citizen Participation (I)

Crisis Resistant Citizens

In a current "Working Paper," Lieutenant Colonel Michael Hanisch, the Executive Assistant to the President of the Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS) is calling for "measures to advance the strengthening of resilience in Germany." The set of measures, he is proposing include an "information campaign" to be launched in cooperation with "media partners" and "civil society." Each citizen's "firmness against crises, be it towards propaganda, fake news or terrorist attacks, ultimately forms an integral part of society's intended overall resilience. To make the general public understand this - ultimately leading to their willingness to actively contribute - will require a great deal of explaining and persuading."[1]

Society's Ability to Protect and Help Itself

To create the conditions for such a propaganda campaign, Lieutenant Colonel Hanisch proposes to proceed in several coordinated steps. First, a "framework model" should be developed, which would define "major requirements" for "strengthening resilience." This, however, should not only be oriented toward the "provision of public and commercial measures to prevent and manage crises," but should include measures for "society's ability to protect and help itself." The author subsequently proposes to "establish an 'Advisory Council for Resilience Promotion' at the German Chancellery, consisting of representatives from all relevant areas of state and society." The Advisory Council could assist in determining "whose resilience is more relevant or critical for whole-of-society security," Hanisch explains, referring to "certain groups of persons or occupational categories" such as policemen, fire fighters and paramedics as well as "sensitive infrastructure (IT networks)." In a third step, the BAKS fellow would like to "design tangible projects" and, in major cities, establish "resilience partnerships" between the state economy, science and society. "Experience on networking between the different actors and joint, effective action in the event of disturbances (which is gained from such small-scale pilot projects) could then be transferred to other regions so that resilience is built gradually from the bottom up."[2]

Self-Evident Cooperation

In his reflections on "promoting resilience", Lieutenant Colonel Hanisch explicitly refers to the "White Paper on Security Policy and Future of the Bundeswehr," presented by Germany's Defense Ministry in 2016. (german-foreign-policy.com reported [3].) This basic document for military policy defines "strengthening resilience" as a "whole-of-society endeavor," which has a major function to maintain and increase Germany's capacity to wage war: "The state, the economy and society must increase their resilience so that Germany has the freedom to determine how best to respond, and they must defend themselves robustly when threats arise." Since, according to the German government, not only the "physical infrastructure" but also "public opinion" can be "targeted" by enemy combatants, a whole-of-society orientation is needed. "This means intensifying cooperation between government bodies, citizens and private operators of critical infrastructure, as well as the media and network operators. Everyone involved in this approach must work closely together."[4]

Inclusive Processes

It is not the first time that the BAKS fellow, Hanisch has reflected on "enhancing resilience" in Germany, as can be seen by one of his earlier "Working Papers." In that paper, he particularly praised the Rockefeller Foundation's "100 Resilient Cities" project, because it is aiding "100 cities around the world to become more resilient to the physical, social, and economic challenges of the 21st century."[5] To promote "inclusive processes" is an integral component of the Rockefeller Project. They are aimed at enabling urban populations to "act collectively," for example in the event of an attack by enemy combatants and "to protect themselves."[6]

Comprehensive Concept

The German Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is pursuing a similar strategy. In the framework of its "Morgenstadt" ("City of the Future") initiative (german-foreign-policy.com reported.[7]), already in 2012, the state-owned research institute introduced its "vision" of a "resilient" urban space. In addition to monitoring systems identifying "dangers in the entire urban area" with "risk assessment tools," the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft seeks to integrate all inhabitants in a process of establishing "sustainable security." "Public security in the Morgenstadt lies not only in the hands of the police, but each individual citizen is part of a comprehensive concept of resilience to a wide variety of security risks."[8]

Spiritual Unity

The idea of mobilizing the entire society for struggle on the home front and therefore making the population "resilient" in face of the effects of war is nothing new. This had already been among the reflections of Gen. Erich Ludendorff, who, during World War I, had been a member of the German Empire's Supreme Army Command, and later joined the Nazi movement in the 1920s. It was Ludendorff, who coined the term "total war," who's "foundation" he saw in "the people's spiritual unity." "Spiritual unity alone enables the population to repeatedly fill the beleaguered Wehrmacht with renewed spiritual energy, to work for the Wehrmacht and in the hardships of war, even under enemy combat, continue to relish victory and take pleasure in resisting."[9]

[1], [2] Michael Hanisch: Vorwärts, Resilienz! Vorschläge zum Resilienzausbau in Deutschland. Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik, Arbeitspapier Sicherheitspolitik 16/2017.
[3] See Zivile Kriegsvorbereitung.
[4] Bundesministerium der Verteidigung (Hg.): Weißbuch 2016 zur Sicherheitspolitik und zur Zukunft der Bundeswehr. Berlin 2016.
[5] Michael Hanisch: Was ist Resilienz? Unschärfen eines Schlüsselbegriffs. Bundesakademie für Sicherheitspolitik, Arbeitspapier Sicherheitspolitik 19/2016.
[6] The Rockefeller Foundation/Arup: City Resilience Framework. November 2015.
[7] See Urbane Entwicklung (I).
[8] Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.: Visionen zur Morgenstadt. Leitgedanken für Forschung und Entwicklung von Systeminnovationen für nachhaltige und lebenswerte Städte der Zukunft. Stuttgart 03.02.2012.
[9] Erich Ludendorff: Der totale Krieg. München 1935.