The Test of Strategic Culture: Germany, Pacifism and Pre-emptive Strikes

Abstract

Germany was the first country to issue a categorical refusal to support the US-led war in Iraq. Some have interpreted this as the result of a clash between the strategic cultures of Germany and the USA, others as a sign that a more nationalistic and assertive Germany is emerging. This article explains the apparently contradictory aspects of Germany’s stance on Iraq by identifying two competing strands within Germany’s strategic culture. It concludes that the German refusal signals neither a reversion to a pacifist stance nor that Germany is in a process of shedding the bonds and alliances that have so far framed the reunified Germany’s military policy. Iraq simply showed that Germany, like most other countries, has conditions that have to be met - in Germany’s case, conditions flowing from the coexistence of two competing schools of thought within Germany’s strategic culture.