Bye Bye Merkel Doctrine: German Foreign Policy Shifts Focus to Refugees
"With the refugee crisis showing no signs of abating, Germany is rapidly changing its foreign and security policy focus. Gone are the days of democracy promotion. Now the primary goal is that of preventing people from migrating to Europe."
By SPIEGEL Staff
"On the last Friday in October, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen found herself in a government jet flying just outside of Syrian airspace. She was on the way to an international security conference in Bahrain for several meetings. Her mission: crisis diplomacy.
Meanwhile, diplomats from around the world were gathered in Vienna to discuss possible ways in which the Syrian civil war could be brought to an end -- a conflict that is the primary cause for the enormous wave of refugees currently crashing over Germany and the rest of Europe. While still in the air, Von der Leyen was receiving hourly updates from the Vienna gathering. She was hopeful that a breakthrough could be reached so that she could continue the search for a solution in Bahrain.
A few days prior, the minister had been in Iraq for talks in Baghdad and for a visit to the Kurds in the north of the country. But now, the Gulf was on von der Leyen's agenda. Maps of the region were spread out on the table in front of her. Here, the Russians are bombing, and this is the area Islamic State has under its control, she said, pointing at the maps. It used to be that efforts aimed at pacifying global crisis regions fell into the category of foreign policy. These days though, such trips are part of "refugee policy," as Germany attempts to address the roots of the problem.
...
It is a goal that the German government has made its highest foreign and security policy priority: That of ensuring that as few refugees as possible embark on the long journey to Germany. The pursuit of that strategy has led to the launch of diplomatic initiatives, the questioning of development policy concepts, the subordination of long-held principles and the expansion of military missions.
The task is enormous. Europe, to borrow the vernacular of military leaders, is surrounded by a "ring of fire." Across the Mediterranean, in North Africa and the Middle East, there is an arc of crisis made up of collapsing and precarious states, where a simple selfie with the German chancellor is enough to trigger thousands to begin a journey to Europe in search of a better future.
Because Europe can't simply cut itself off, according to the logic of German refugee policy, much of the world must be transformed into a better place -- an incredibly ambitious goal that is a combination of desperation and megalomania. "We have to restore state power and stability in countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya," Minister von der Leyen said the weekend before last. "
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/refugee-crisis-leads-to-new-focus-of-german-foreign-policy-a-1062116.html
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"We have to restore state power and stability in countries like Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya,"
Am I wrong or hasn't the the US been "restoring state power and stability" in Syria (arming "moderate islamist rebels"
, Iraq (well, you know all about the Iraq war and aftermath...), Afghanistan (pretty much same level of US involvement as in Iraq) and Libya (Arab Spring) already?
Are the Germans finally realizing that the US military solutions are not working in these countries? Is this the first glimmer that compromise and brokered peace talks between rival factions in these countries will happen?
