White Paper (Bundeswehr)

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The White Paper is a basic document drawn up by the Federal Ministry of Defense and adopted by the Federal Government , which represents the security policy situation in the Federal Republic of Germany and its allies for the coming years from the government's point of view and is intended to serve as a guide for security policy decisions and actions in Germany. In particular, conclusions are drawn for the tasks of the Bundeswehr and its personnel strength, equipment and training, and points of contact are created for other departments of the Federal Government so that they can further develop their instruments with reference to security policy. After discussion in parliamentary bodies and in public, the White Paper has been published at irregular intervals under different titles since its first publication on February 11, 1969. In public it is abbreviated and referred to as the Defense White Paper or Bundeswehr White Paper to distinguish it from white papers from other publishers .

The White Paper has a wide range of addressees: It informs the Bundestag and the Bundeswehr as those directly affected, as well as the interested public in Germany, the allies and other interested countries.

Previous white papers

The titles of the white papers published so far are listed in the table below. They are now all available online. In terms of content, the editions reflect the changing domestic and foreign policy, constitutional, military and economic situation and their discussion at the respective point in time.

year title Defense Minister Chancellor
1969 On the defense policy of the Federal Republic Gerhard Schröder Kurt Georg Kiesinger
1970 For the security of the Federal Republic and the situation of the Bundeswehr Helmut Schmidt Willy Brandt
1971/72 For the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and for the development of the Bundeswehr Helmut Schmidt Willy Brandt
1973/74 For the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and for the development of the Bundeswehr Georg Leber Willy Brandt
1975/76 For the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and for the development of the Bundeswehr Georg Leber Helmut Schmidt
1979 For the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and for the development of the Bundeswehr Hans Apel Helmut Schmidt
1983 For the security of the Federal Republic of Germany Manfred Woerner Helmut Kohl
1985 On the situation and development of the Bundeswehr Manfred Woerner Helmut Kohl
1994 On the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and on the situation and future of the Bundeswehr Volker Rühe Helmut Kohl
2006 On Germany's security policy and the future of the Bundeswehr Franz Josef Jung Angela Merkel
2016 On security policy and the future of the Bundeswehr Ursula von der Leyen Angela Merkel

White Paper 1994

The 1994 White Paper , which was adopted by the federal government made up of the CDU and FDP under Helmut Kohl a few years after the reunification of Germany and the preservation of Germany's full sovereignty, formulated a security concept that was much more comprehensive than before:

“Today Europe is at the beginning of a new era. The former 340,000 Soviet soldiers in Germany will have returned to their homeland in August 1994. In addition, the armed forces potential in Europe has been significantly reduced. Decades of fear of a major nuclear dispute are a thing of the past. The same goes for the threat to which the Bundeswehr's mission has previously related: the defense against large-scale aggression by numerically superior conventional armed forces in Central Europe after a relatively short warning and preparation period. [...] The risk analysis of future developments must be based on a broad security concept. You must not limit yourself to Europe, but must take into account the interdependence of regional and global developments. They have to include social, economic and ecological trends and relate them to the security of Germany and its allies. In the future, all factors must be taken into account in a comprehensive political and strategic assessment of the situation. […] Germany is affected by the entire spectrum of risks due to its interests, its international ties and obligations. [...] An approach is required that takes political, economic, societal, social, ecological and military aspects into account for the specific individual case. "

White Paper 2006

The 2006 White Paper had already been criticized in the draft, because the formulation of the tasks of the Bundeswehr in the context of foreign missions was again expanded and viewed as unconstitutional and widely interpreted. This expansion, however, corresponded to a justification of military operations, as it had already been done three years earlier by the European Council in its European Security Strategy, where it was stated that “Europe's energy dependency is a particular cause for concern” and the use of instruments “up to towards military use as a last resort “conflict prevention and crisis management may be necessary. The white paper was approved and published by the cabinet on October 24, 2006 following a vote between the governing parties CDU and SPD of the grand coalition under Angela Merkel . It emphasized more clearly than previous editions that, in the opinion of the Federal Government, German security policy also includes economic aspects and processes far outside the federal territory:

“The process of globalization affects all countries and societies worldwide. The development and increasing networking of international trade, investment, travel, communication and knowledge flows primarily open up new opportunities. Germany, whose economic prosperity depends on access to raw materials, goods and ideas, has a fundamental interest in a peaceful competition of ideas, in an open world trade system and free transport routes. [...] Due to its ever closer integration in the world economy, Germany has a special interest in international stability and the unhindered exchange of goods. [...] Distortions in the international structure of relationships, disruptions in the flow of raw materials and goods, for example due to increasing piracy, and disruptions in global communication in an interdependent world do not remain without effects on the national economy, prosperity and social peace. […] Energy issues will play an increasingly important role in global security in the future. […] German security policy must also take developments in geographically distant regions into account, insofar as they affect our interests. […] German security policy is based on a comprehensive security concept. Risks and threats must be countered with a coordinated set of instruments. This includes diplomatic, economic, development policy, police and military means, and, if necessary, armed operations. The latter are associated with dangers to life and limb and can have far-reaching political consequences. "

When the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler , reported on the content of these passages of the White Paper on May 22, 2010 as part of a radio interview on the deployment of the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan as part of the ISAF , this triggered severe criticism. On May 31, 2010 he resigned from his position as Federal President, referring to this criticism, in which he perceived “allegations” and lacked the “necessary respect for the highest office of the state”.

White Paper 2016

The 2016 White Paper bears the subtitle on security policy and the future of the Bundeswehr . It was announced by the Defense Minister in October 2014 and passed by the Federal Cabinet on July 13, 2016 . For the first time, experts from civil society and friendly countries outside the government were involved in advance. The authors assume that Germany's influence is not based on the threat or use of military force.

In contrast to the earlier White Papers, this time the focus is on security policy. The second part deals with the military aspects without going into the details of the organization of the armed forces. Security policy tasks are seen at the interface between internal and external security, such as terrorism, attacks on critical infrastructures and migration movements. In general, resilience should be promoted here, concrete approaches to these areas are not outlined. For the first time explicitly mentioned is participation in ad hoc cooperation with the aim of solving or limiting a security policy problem outside of fixed institutional formats.

After the changed security situation since the last White Paper was drawn up in 2006 ( suspension of compulsory military service , Arab Spring , annexation of Crimea ), the main task of the Bundeswehr is once again seen in national and federal defense, as well as in homeland security, the deployment of the Bundeswehr inside and for the first time in cybersecurity. The European pillar of NATO is to be strengthened, including a. through military cooperation.

Similar documents

Another document on the same subject are the Defense Policy Guidelines , which are, however, put into effect by the Federal Ministry of Defense itself and not by the entire Federal Government.

Publications

  • White Paper 1969 , Bonn 1969, DNB 576904988 .
  • White Book 1970–1983, Bonn, 1970–1983, ISSN  0723-3876 .
  • Federal Ministry of Defense (Ed.): White Book 1985 - On the situation and development of the Bundeswehr. Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Bonn 1985. 417 pages, ISBN 3-452-32409-5 , ISSN  0938-2631 .
  • Federal Ministry of Defense (Ed.): White Book 1994. White Book on the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and on the situation and future of the Bundeswehr. Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Bonn 1994.
  • Federal Ministry of Defense (Ed.): White Paper 2006 on Germany's Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr. Berlin 2006. With this publication ceased (1995–2005 not published, 2007–2015 also), DNB 981993168 .
  • White Paper 2016 , Berlin July 13, 2016, home page

literature

  • Angelika Dörfler-Dierken, Gerd Portugall (Hrsg.): Peace ethics and security policy. White paper 2006 and EKD peace memorandum 2007 in discussion (= series of publications by the Social Science Institute of the Bundeswehr, Volume 8). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-16747-3 .
  • Journal of the Catholic Military Bishop for the German Federal Armed Forces. Compass. Soldier in Welt und Kirche (special edition for the 2016 White Paper) http://www.katholische-militaerseelsorge.de/uploads/media/Kompass_Weissbuch2016.pdf

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The new white paper - a driving force behind security policy understanding? SWP-Aktuell 2016 / A 65 , Markus Kaim, Hilmar Linnenkamp, ​​October 2016
  2. ↑ a b c White Papers of the Bundeswehr
  3. ^ The Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). Federal Foreign Office, January 30, 2006, accessed March 22, 2011 .
  4. ↑ Tagesschau: White Paper 2006 adopted ( Memento from November 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ IMI -Standpunkt 2006/082: German war (preparatory) policy ( Memento from February 19, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Von der Leyen wants to redefine security policy. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. October 29, 2014, accessed February 12, 2015 .
  7. ^ Cabinet adopts the white paper. bmvg.de, July 13, 2016, accessed on July 13, 2016 .
  8. ^ White Paper 2016 by Claudia Major, Christian Mölling, bpb .