Germany and the limits of soft security

The Dangers of German History: Lessons from a Decade of Post-Cold War German Foreign and Security Policy

“…Germany's precipitous diplomatic recognition of Croatia and Slovenia undermined the credibility of international organisations and it seemingly deferred to its allies 'the less pro table burdens of hard security.' 59 And its continued salience can be seen in two litmus tests of reuni ed Germany's willingness to deal with the past and accept burdens necessary to maintain the international order: army reform and military interventionism.…”

“…Indeed, whilst incremental reform has not meant an abandonment of Germany's civilian power tradition, it created an uncertainty that compromised one of its traditionally most important features, the 'plodding yet predictable' nature of its attritional multilateralism. 83 Germany has been unable, or unwilling, to develop a single set of policy guidelines for interventionism and left the international community uncertain of when it will act and of what the nature of its contribution will be. 84 foreign policy adaptation, such as the commitment to Kosovo, greater assertion with regard to EC budgetary contributions, and the von Weizsaecker Commission.…”