Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- I Introduction
- II The domestic and international context
- III Traditional contributors to international military operations
- IV Newcomers to international military operations
- 9 Japan: moderate commitment within legal strictures
- 10 Germany: ensuring political legitimacy for the use of military forces by requiring constitutional accountability
- V Permanent members of the UN Security Council
- VI Conclusion
- Appendix A. Uses of military forces under the auspices of the UN and NATO
- Appendix B. Country participation in international operations, 1945–2000
- References
- Index
10 - Germany: ensuring political legitimacy for the use of military forces by requiring constitutional accountability
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- I Introduction
- II The domestic and international context
- III Traditional contributors to international military operations
- IV Newcomers to international military operations
- 9 Japan: moderate commitment within legal strictures
- 10 Germany: ensuring political legitimacy for the use of military forces by requiring constitutional accountability
- V Permanent members of the UN Security Council
- VI Conclusion
- Appendix A. Uses of military forces under the auspices of the UN and NATO
- Appendix B. Country participation in international operations, 1945–2000
- References
- Index
Summary
Germany has grappled for several years with the issue of the use of armed forces under international auspices and democratic accountability. Some observers, such as Lori Damrosch in this book, are tempted to look at the German case as an example of a worldwide trend towards greater democratic accountability in the use of armed forces under international auspices. Others may suspect that this view is misleading, since Germany is an exceptional example because of its twentieth-century history.
Historical introduction
In 1949, the new Federal Republic of Germany did not possess armed forces. Germany as a whole, East and West, was still under occupation by the four wartime Allies, the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and the United Kingdom. By this time, however, the Cold War had begun; the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington six weeks before the Federal Republic was formally established in Bonn. The creation of the two German states was part of the mobilization by the Cold War protagonists of their respective forces.
Nevertheless, the Grundgesetz, the Constitution or Basic Law of the new West German state, contained only two indirect references to the use of armed forces. Article 4(3) guarantees the right of conscientious objection, and article 24(2) permits the integration of the new state into “systems of mutual collective security” (Systeme gegenseitiger kollektiver Sicherheit). These provisions do not, however, presuppose or require the existence of a national army.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
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