Germany’s hard choices on threats

The Islamic State terror organisation is advancing with monstrous brutality, persecuting and killing anyone who stands in its way. In the areas it controls, its terrorists enslave and humiliate people who do not share its beliefs. Yazidis and Christians, as well as Muslims, who refuse to submit to its radical ideology are forced to leave everything behind and flee for their lives.

The group now controls a transnational territory that is home to more than five million people and contains cities, oil wells, dams and airports. The fact that these terrorists include a growing number of foreign fighters from Europe is a cause for alarm for all of us.

With the advanced weapons it has captured and its significant financial means, the Islamic State poses an existential threat to the Kurdistan Iraq region and to Iraqi statehood, and indeed to the already fragile regional order in the Middle East. Without the determined intervention by the United States, the comparatively poorer-equipped Kurdish forces would not have been able to halt its advance.

In this dramatic situation, Germany has decided to provide humanitarian assistance to the people fleeing from the Islamic State and support the Kurdistan Regional Government in the fight against the group by not only supplying food, blankets, tents and generators, but also weapons and military equipment.

This decision has sparked intense debates in the country. Indeed, some people even see it as a fundamental change in German foreign policy.

I do not share this view. The fact is that Germany is taking on its responsibility in the world — not only in the fight against the Islamic State, but also in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan. Along with the European Union (EU), we are particularly active in the search for a solution to the highly dangerous crisis close to home — the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

TAKING RESPONSIBLE ACTION

Responsibility is always about concrete action. It depends on whether fundamental principles of a peaceful and just international order are in danger; on whether our own interests are involved or our closest partner countries and allies are affected.

Our scepticism about military intervention and restrictive approach to arms exports are politically well-founded and deeply ingrained in Germans’ collective consciousness. There is no paradigm shift as regards our foreign policy principles, which include a policy of military restraint. But given the real dangers and threats, also to our own security and interests, we cannot — and must not — merely talk about principles or even hide behind them.

We are aware of the risks and dilemmas. We decide on what action to take — or not, as the case may be — in the knowledge of the trade-offs involved and in light of our values and interests. We take the greatest care in making such decisions and do so in close coordination with our European, transatlantic and regional partner countries.

Where there is a threat of mass murder; where the stability and order of countries and entire regions are endangered, and where there is no chance of political settlements being successful without military support, we must be willing to honestly weigh the risks of getting involved against the consequences of doing nothing. This was why we decided to take part in international military interventions in Kosovo in 1999 and in Afghanistan in 2001.

And equally, Germany had good reasons for opposing military action in Iraq in 2003.

Our response against the Islamic State does not start with supplying arms, nor does it end there. The group cannot be stopped by either humanitarian or military means alone. We, the international community, need to develop a comprehensive political strategy to counter this terrorist organisation systematically.

In my view, four main elements are crucial here: We need a new, effective and inclusive Iraqi government in Baghdad to dry up potential support for the Islamic State by closing ranks with the Sunni tribes. We need intensive diplomatic efforts to seek agreement among and with the countries in the region to confront the threat together. We need all the authorities of the Islamic world to clearly distance themselves from the actions of the terrorist group to unmask the rank cynicism of the propagandists and ideologists claiming religious legitimacy for their savagery.

Finally, we need resolute steps to hamper and prevent the flow of fighters and funds.

Looking at the crises spanning the Maghreb, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, it seems to many in Europe that the world is coming loose from its moorings. Crisis and conflict are creeping closer, and even among Europe’s neighbours, certainties we took for granted for 25 years have lost their hold.

We must not indulge the illusion that we could just shut ourselves away from the world if it goes to pieces and maybe offer a bit of humanitarian aid. Our prosperity and security depend on our unprecedented network of political and economic ties to the whole world. Wherever order falls apart — especially in the vicinity of Europe’s borders — we will be affected too.

We therefore need to ask ourselves objectively: What are our options and what are our responsibilities? In doing so, we also need to be aware of our limitations. Germany is the largest country in the EU, politically stable and economically strong, but what we can contribute with humanitarian assistance, politically or militarily to conflict resolution is only rendered meaningful and effective by collaboration with others.

We act in concert with our European and transatlantic partners — this is and will remain the fundamental basis of German foreign policy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier is Germany’s Foreign Minister.