The formula is unpopular though.
For some years now, however, the leading political forces in Germany have been realizing that the greatest power in the European Union must take on more “responsibility” on what is often referred to as the global political stage.
What exactly that is must be decided on a case-by-case basis.
In the past twenty years, for example, “responsibility” has meant that German soldiers served in Afghanistan and tried to build a more or less stable and ideally even democratic state there.
That didn't work.
The question now arises as to what conclusions can be drawn from this failure.
It is easiest for those who have always been “against” anyway.
All military missions abroad are the devil, they say.
The wars in the former Yugoslavia have shown how irresponsible such an attitude is.
The conflicts there have not yet been resolved (for a long time).
Ambiguous results outside of Europe
But the killing has stopped since overseas took responsibility.
Progress has also been made in building democratic structures.
But the successor states of Yugoslavia have not become the counterparts of Germany or Switzerland.
Nevertheless, it can be said that the deployment - including the military - ultimately proved to be the right one.
The preliminary results are less positive for operations outside of Europe. At the moment it's mostly about Mali. In light of the events in Afghanistan, some believe that the German and other soldiers should withdraw as quickly as possible because their deployment will not lead to anything anyway. The Union's candidate for chancellor Armin Laschet, on the other hand, believes that withdrawal is “not an option”. Will he hold on to this view even if France unilaterally decides that it no longer makes sense? A withdrawal for the Bundeswehr would then probably not only be an option, it would be mandatory. There needs to be a broad discussion about “responsibility” - and its limits.