STRATEGIC CULTURE OF GERMANY IN PST-COLD WAR PERIOD

Dušan Kesić

Abstract

The revitalized power of Germany after unification, according to the forecasts of neorealists, necessarily implied the aspiration to establish itself as a central power in Europe. As the neorealist predictions of the “Balkanization” of Europe were not materialized, that requires to adopt a different perspective, which will offer cultural and historical dimensions, contrary to neorealist acultural and ahistorical approach. The social constructivism as a theoretical approach and the concept of strategic culture are opposed to the ahistorical and the so-called “objective” variables, in the form of material capacities and technology. These variables are interpreted through the “lens” of strategic culture, which represents a culturally based understanding of the role of war in human civilization. The subject of this paper is the impact that the end of the Cold War had on the strategic culture of Germany. The aim of the paper is to analize the  patterns of “fine” strategic culture changes at the level of security policy standpoints. The stated objective is achieved by interpretations of  Germany’s key strategic policy documents on security policy. The analysis of strategic culture has confirmed the continuity of foundational values, which is also the dominant position in the academic literature that focuses on this issue. On the other hand, the discontinuity of the security policy standpoint has been identified, they represent a way of promoting foundational values ​​through policy. Changes in the security policy standpoint were a necessary consequence of the changed circumstances on the international scene and the need to reconcile the foundational elements that have collided. Defining the role of the armed forces emerges as a central segment of the change in strategic culture of Germany in the post-Cold War era.

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