Following the White Paper of the Federal Ministry of Defense from 2016, the German Federal Government has now published a comprehensive national security strategy – for the first time ever. The Federal Foreign Office was in charge, other federal ministries as well as the Federal Chancellery were closely involved in the development process.
The National Security Strategy published on June 14, 2023 comes at a time of multiple crises and conflicts: Russia is not only attacking Ukraine, but is directing its aggression against the entire free democratic world. The European peace order is in dissolution. China is increasingly aggressively pursuing its own claims of hegemony, leading to the potential of an escalating conflict between Washington and Beijing. In addition, there are currently numerous hot spots for crises and conflicts, such as droughts caused by climate change, displacement and migration movements, poverty and international terrorism.
The world order is under attacked, international law is under pressure and the existence and functioning of multilateral organizations are being seriously questioned. The German government – after numerous states e.g. the United States, Japan, France and Sweden have established a strategy process, some of which have been in place for years – now follows suit.
In the light of these circumstances, the strategy should be a guideline for future German foreign and security policy and at the same time offer orientation for partners of the Federal Republic. It should fit into the strategic direction of the European Union (Strategic Compass 2022) and NATO (Strategic Concept 2022). Can the new strategie meet these expectations?
