Category: Security policy

The 75-year-old danger

The 75-year-old danger

Posted by | 12 Apr 2021 | , , | 1

Since the end of the Second World War, millions of tonnes of contaminated waste have been stored in German waters. Their removal is still the subject of controversial debate between the federal and state governments. In the twelve-mile zone of the North Sea and Baltic Sea and in the seaward Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), there are around 1.6 million tonnes of contaminated munitions, including over 5,000 tonnes of gas munitions. The nautical charts show 15 dumping areas, labelled as "unclean munitions" or "anchoring and fishing prohibited". There are also positions with scattered munitions. The inventory has not yet been finalised. Since 2011, the Federal/State Working Group on the North Sea and Baltic Sea (Blano) has published the annually updated report "Munitions contamination of German marine waters". Unfortunately, the...

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What is the Bundeswehr doing in Africa?

What is the Bundeswehr doing in Africa?

Posted by | 23 Mar 2021 | , , | 2

Wolfram Lacher recently published an SWP study entitled "Unser schwieriger Partner - Deutschlands und Frankreichs erfolgloses Engagement in Libyen und Mali" (https://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/studien/2021S03_deutschland_frankreich_libyen_mali.pdf). What makes the paper so worth reading from a German perspective is not so much the knowledgeable detailed analysis of German and French Africa policy. Rather, it is the ruthlessness with which the author reveals the differences between the two countries and the fundamental German deficits in operational security policy. It is worth reflecting on this on the basis of Lacher's study.France has tried to separate itself from colonial concepts in recent decades, but has repeatedly reverted to the ideas of the Françafrique. It...

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Another drug find in the Caribbean

Another drug find in the Caribbean

Posted by | 25 Feb 2021 | , , | 0

The French navy was once again successful in the fight against drug smuggling in the second week of February. In the dark, the crew of the frigate Germinal spotted a suspicious boat without a national emblem in the south-west of the island of Saint-Martin. As the frigate approached the boat, it turned away and attempted to flee. During the pursuit, the men and women on board the naval vessel were able to document 15 packages being thrown into the sea. They eventually managed to stop the boat and arrest the three occupants. In the hours that followed, the Germinal located 11 of the 15 packages and fished them out of the water. As expected,...

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In the shadow of great power competition

In the shadow of great power competition

Posted by | 4 Jan 2021 | , | 0

More than six years ago, the war in Ukraine and Russia's annexation of Crimea brought the now widespread awareness of the relevance of national and alliance defence back onto the agenda of military and security policy planners. In particular, supplying the eastern NATO allies by sea (Sea Lanes of Communication) and also via land routes (keyword: Suwałki Gap, the 65-kilometre narrow land connection between Poland and Lithuania) in the event of a conflict has regularly come to the fore. The calculation of a possible military conflict within Europe reveals several NATO priorities at the maritime level...

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The state of the German Navy's armaments

The state of the German Navy's armaments

Posted by | 9 Dec 2020 | , , , | 0

The poet and writer Eugen Roth once wrote: Man piously and silently hopes that he will one day get what he wants; until he succumbs to delusion and ends up wanting what he gets. One cannot help but get the impression that Eugen Roth had an inner inkling of how armaments are sometimes carried out in today's armed forces. This article deals with the question of what the navy wants and what it actually gets. It is in the nature of things that naval armaments must be designed for the long term. The planning, procurement and...

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