Workshop/CfP - German Foreign and Security Policy after the End of the Cold War: From National Defense to Intervention?, 17-18 October 2017, Germany

The employment of the Bundeswehr after 1990 expresses the real changes that have taken place in the orientation of Germany's foreign and security policy and provides information on what Germany understands to be its role.

The Operations Survey and Support Division of Bundeswehr Center of Military History and Social Sciences (ZMSBw) has been dealing with questions of modern military history for several years. ZMSBw began to explore this extensive subject by studying the role of Germany's armed forces after 1990. The Operations Survey and Support Division is holding a workshop on it entitled "German Foreign and Security Policy after the End of the Cold War - From National Defense to Intervention?" in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Berlin Academy and Potsdam University from 17 to 18 October 2017 at the Berlin Academy of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Tiergartenstr. 35, 10785 Berlin.

This workshop will explore the question of how German foreign and security policy has developed since the end of the Cold War and what this tells us about Germany's security policy identity. The transformation of the Bundeswehr will be the analytical benchmark of the event. What role do Bundeswehr operations abroad play within this policy? The internal agreement that became necessary after the end of the Cold War focuses on the role of Germany's armed forces and thus the relationship between the government and the military. (Conze)

We cordially invite scholars, in particular post-doctoral researchers and PhD students of history and social sciences, to attend this event. The interdisciplinary workshop will discuss

• methods and approaches in modern military history research,

• normative issues, in particular definitions,

• chances and limits of the source situation in modern military history research and

• possibilities and limits of interdisciplinary cooperation / use of synergies.

The changes in the Bundeswehr after 1990 offer access to a large number of topics: 

• The course of the debate in Germany on the role of the Bundeswehr and its participation in operations abroad (What is a parliamentary army?)

• The integration of the East German National People's Army into the Bundeswehr

• The importance of Bundeswehr operations abroad for the positioning of Germany in security policy issues (after the end of the Cold War, in view of Germany's handling of and participation in international conflicts)

• The role of international organizations and regional alliances like NATO, the EU, the OSCE and the UN for German foreign and security policy

• The transformation of the Bundeswehr (its role, organization, training, equipment, mission and self-image and the self-perception of Bundeswehr military personnel)

• The way the German Armed Forces function

• The integration of the military into German society

• The meta-analysis of the overall system of German foreign and security policy

• The German and international discourses on the legitimacy of interventions by the international community

• The development of the understanding of the law on the use of armed forces after 1990 in Germany (change in Germany's understanding of the constitution and/or legal practice?)

• Definitions, in particular of operations (abroad). legitimacy and war 

While the workshop will focus on the developments in foreign and security policy affairs concerning the Bundeswehr, questions on the economy, development assistance as well as culture and society in Germany will also be welcome.