Soldiers of the 33rd Panzergrenadier bataillon stand ready for inspection in front of a Puma infantry fighting vehicle after taking part in a drill at the headquarters of the 33rd Panzergrenadier bataillon in Neustadt am Ruebenberge on June 29, 2016. Photo by AFP
Chris Bowlby, BBC: Germany: Reluctant military giant?
Should Germany become a major military power? And will it happen?
With Vladimir Putin destabilising the east, Middle Eastern and Asian conflicts spurring new migration into Europe, and Donald Trump questioning US commitment to NATO, Germany has good reason to feel insecure.
Chancellor Merkel told Germans in May that "we must fight for our future ourselves as Europeans". German troops have been deployed in locations ranging from Lithuania to Afghanistan and Mali. And Merkel has promised to raise German defence spending.
But Germany and its Chancellor face a fundamental problem. Most Germans are very reluctant to go down this road.
They regard their own army with suspicion - an attitude reinforced by a recent scandal involving the Bundeswehr. Foreign deployments are tightly restricted by German law and parliament.
Above all, attitudes are shaped by the shadow of history.
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WNU Editor: Fortunately .... the German public does not have any appetite for this type of military expansion. Can this change .... yes .... but the geopolitical conditions will have to get far worse than what they are now for this to happen.
5 comments:
Lol the russian will surely love this : ) )
I think that would be a terrible sign. ..I don't think Germany would want to get a stronger army unless it feels threatened. And even though Russia has acted more expansionist in the last few years, it is still at a somewhat understandable level (Crimea for instance). Having said that, it wouldn't be a stretch to compare Russia's current behaviour to former Nazi Germany's behaviour when they practiced their "Anschlusspolitik" (meaning to try to reclaim or join regions that were believed to be German/wanting to be ruled as part of the German nation)...so actually very similar... but Russians bein Russians, Germans believe in the moral strength when it comes to questions like that. Would Russia do Anschlusspolitik towards areas it truly believes are its own or crucially important to military survival (crimea)? Apparently yes.
Would they go as far as invading other areas in Europe, like Nazi Germany did later as part of the WW2, I don't think so. At least not to permanently conquer and/or permanently destroy. Mother Russia doesn't start wars, it ends it. .. It has some truth to it. :)
Germany has destroyed itself and will never again be a country feared by others. It can not even protect its' own children and womenfrom the rapefuges coming in last years. The same goes for my country Sweden.
It will be feared as an new and unstable Islamic exclave in Europe, but no, it won't be feared as 'Germany' as we know it anymore.
If the Russians are a threat, it is needed.
If the Russians are not a threat, why bother and it would be a waste of resources.
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