On 14 June 2023, Germany revealed its first National Security Strategy since the end of WW2. The plan was in preparation since November 2021 (DeutscheWelle, 2023). And while the document was supposed to be delivered during the Munich Security Council in February, though its release was delayed by internal disagreements among the government’s coalition parties (Von Der Burchard, 2023).

The document highlights Russia as the single biggest security threat to Germany and Europe and sets several broad targets to achieve self-sufficiency and resilience in several aspects. Most notably, Germany commits to increasing its defence spending to 2% of its GDP over a multiyear period (Morris & Brady, 2023). Nevertheless, most of the additional funding will come from the 100-billion-euro special fund instituted in June 2022 to support defence investments (Morris & Brady, 2023). The creation of a National Security Council was also dropped to relieve the political deadlock. Disagreements emerged between the Social Democrats, which favoured as structure under the control of the Chancellery, and the Greens who wanted the Council to be under the directives of the Foreign Affairs Ministry (Von Der Burchard, 2023).

The documents focus on the multidimensional threats and stress the necessity for military, economic and geopolitical threats to be addressed in a coordinated manner (Jordans, 2023).

It is focused on three main pillars: the first, “Strong Defense,” highlights the commitment to the 2% of GDP target spent on the military. The second pillar, “Resilience”, commits Germany to protect allies and values and reduce dependence in critical sectors. The third and final pillar, “Sustainability,” focuses on climate change and its impact on security (Erlanger & Schuetze, 2023).

Climate change is seen as a threat multiplier and its importance is further highlighted by the fact that it is quoted 71 times in the text, in contrast to the word “China” which appears only 6 times (Jordans, 2023). In this line, this cautious approach towards the Asian giant is derived from the special economic relationship that Germany has with China, furthermore, a “China Strategy” document is expected to be published later this month, thus explaining the ambiguity in the NSA (Morris & Brady, 2023). China is seen as a “partner, competitor and rival,” though it is admitted that the “elements of rivalry and competition have increased in recent years” (Jordans, 2023, para. 13).

Furthermore, diversification of energy and raw material imports is considered a crucial aspect with special regard to the sustainability of the industrial sector (Jordans, 2023). Lastly, the cyber-space is also given considerable attention, though it lacks any specific improvement in terms of strategic approach, such as in the case of cyber-defence, which will still avoid “hack-back” as a form of retaliation (Clasen & Clasen, 2023). Overall, the first German NSA could be seen as a paper tiger, with experts even calling it “weak” (Erlanger & Schuetze, 2023). In the end, it was the result of a democratic compromise among political forces but quite distant in their positions until the very end.

References

Clasen, A., & Clasen, A. (2023, June 16). German National Security Strategy leaves out cyber counter-attacks. Euractiv. https://www.euractiv.com/section/cybersecurity/news/german-national-security-strategy-leaves-out-cyber-counter-attacks/
Erlanger, S., & Schuetze, C. F. (2023, June 15). Germany Adopts a National Security Plan. Critics Call It ‘Weak.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/14/world/europe/germany-national-security-strategy.html#:~:text=the%20main%20story-,Germany%20Adopts%20a%20More%20Muscular%20Security%20Plan.,commitments%20were%20short%20in%20supply.
Jordans, F. (2023, June 14). Germany unveils 1st national security strategy to address growing threats, singles out Russia. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/germany-first-national-security-strategy-9efb855a9ad6a9ab8428956742cec888?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral.
Morris, L., & Brady, K. (2023, June 14). Russia the ‘most significant threat’ in new German security strategy. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/06/14/germany-national-security-strategy-russia-scholz/?utm_source=ground.news&utm_medium=referral.
Von Der Burchard, H. (2023, February 19). Germany ditches US-style National Security Council to relieve political deadlock. POLITICO. https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-coalition-spat-national-security-council-olaf-scholz/
DeutscheWelle. (2023, June 14). German government presents first national security strategy. DeutscheWelle. https://www.dw.com/en/german-government-presents-first-national-security-strategy/a-65908584.