Nachdem bereits eine Übersetzung ins Spanische erfolgte, dokumentieren wir an dieser Stelle eine englischsprachige Übersetzung des Dokuments der KLASSENSTANDPUNKT-Redaktion "Das Streben des deutschen Imperialismus sich zu einer Supermacht zu entwickeln", die uns übersandt wurde.

Proletarians of all countries, unite!

German imperialism's striving to develop into a superpower

–

Some comments on the “White paper 2016 – On German security policy and the future of the Bundeswehr”

 

German imperialism is strengthening its formation further. After imposing and continuing to impose its leadership in the European Union against other imperialist states through its economic and political dominance it is increasingly mobilising militarily. And it will increasingly unleash its imperialist aggression against the peoples of the world and push ahead a new division of the world. Therefore there were a few years of propagandistic preparation. Exemplary for this is Gauck, who was travelling in his capacity as Head of State – or better as a protestant war priest – from place to place and from country to country and preached the necessity of “defending” the FRG through armed violence. This seems to be completed now because the document “White paper 2016 – On German security policy and the future of the Bundeswehr” also called the white paper, which is examined here, shows a leap in the striving of German imperialism to develop into a superpower. For that reason at this point we want to make some commentary on the document which was published in July this year. We decided to quote the white paper extensive in some places to depict the evolution of German imperialism in this aspect as precise as possible. To make some central points clear we did some emphasising. The document is not just on the issue of the orientation of the Bundeswehr but a strategy paper of the whole imperialist state and its plan for the next years to be involved in the new division of the world like Angela Merkel is implying in her preface to the document.

 

“The White Paper on German Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr describes the cornerstones of Germany’s security policy and the framework within which it operates. It identifies for the Federal Government areas where German security policy can be shaped.”¹

 

And in the foreword the document says:

 

“The White Paper on Security Policy and the Future of the Bundeswehr is the key German policy document on security policy. It is a strategic review of the current state and future course of German security policy. It is thus the principal guideline for the security policy decisions and measures of our country. It establishes a framework in terms of concepts and content and provides starting points for strengthening the whole-of-government approach and developing further ministerial strategies.

The White Paper defines Germany’s ambition to play an active and substantial role in security policy. It reflects our identity and understanding of security policy. On the basis of our values, national interests and an analysis of the security environment, it defines Germany’s strategic priorities and translates them into key areas of engagement for German security policy.”²

 

The white paper shows clearly how the whole state apparatus of the FRG is further aligned to support the aggression of German imperialism which means besides the military and economic foreign policy also home affairs are prepared for future “rough times”.

 

 

 

 

Even the numbers are speaking this language. So in the budget plan for 2017 and the finance plan, which is planing the additional expenses until 2020. The budget plan for 2017 intends expenses of 328.7 billion Euros in contrast to 316.9 billion in 2016, an incline of 3.7%. Until 2020 the state budget is going to be raised by 32.4 billion to 349.3 billion Euros. In this whole period there should “not be any new debt”. The budget for “defense” is to be raised by 1,7 billion to 36. billion Euros in 2017. According to the draft for the state budget besides the improvement of the equipment of the Bundeswehr the means for foreign missions is to be be raised also; in its original wording: “in face of diverse, changing tasks in the context of international missions as well as alliance and national defence”.³ Until 2020 the expenses in this sector are going to be raised by 10.2 billion Euros, which adds up to almost a third of the additional expenses in this period of time (next to the so called social expenses with 16.1 billion Euros). The raise in the armaments budget was prepared in a massive way in the recent years. Examples besides others are the public debate on the allegedly bad guns or not-flying helicopters of the Bundeswehr. Here it is noteworthy that in the context of the NATO it was determined that the members shall strive for “defense budget” of at least two percent of the GDP. In case of the FRG this would be about 50 billion Euro of which 20 percent would be armaments expenses. Also the expenses for the Ministry of Home Affairs will be highly raised by 6.9% to 8.34 billion Euros in 2017. Of that 4.3 billion Euros is to be used for “internal security”, for the federal police (Bundespolizei) alone 3.1 billion Euros of that. Until 2020 there will be 2.6 billion Euros more invested into it. Another aspect besides the directly belligerent on the inside and outside is the issue of so called development aid or development cooperation. In this field the expenses are to be raised to 8 billion Euros. Also determined are 6.3 billion Euros for “fighting causes of flight” which are distinguished from development aid. The various, split up expenses⁴ of the FRG for the aggression of German imperialism against the international proletariat and the peoples of the world – the “security expenses” – altogether sum up to 63.84 billion Euros in the year 2017, compared to 2016 (54.31 billion Euro) it is an increase of almost 10 billion Euros. It is also notable that of those only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is getting less means in 2017 than the year before, therefore the one in charge of the “peaceful cooperation”.

 

 

The alleged claim for a participation of German imperialism in the new division of the world and determination on the oppressed nations to justify the strengthening of the military force of German imperialism are formulated in the white paper as follows:

 

“The growing economic, political and military influence of key states, particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America, will lead to increasing multipolarity and shifts in geopolitical power. Dynamically growing societies are connecting their increasing wealth and participation in the global economy to an aspiration to extend their influence in regional and global affairs. They are underlining this with a significant increase in defence spending and through an intensified coordination of their interests in new organisations and groups of states.”⁵

 

The striving towards a superpower

German imperialism strives to develop from an imperialist power into an imperialist superpower and to struggle for world hegemony. This issue is expressed very clearly in the white paper and will also become clear in the following. To reach this goal it is basing itself firstly on the European Union, as an alliance of the western European imperialist powers under the leadership of the FRG which also incorporated various semi-colonial countries in eastern Europe and the Baltic states. The EU is one of the biggest economic forces in the world, amongst other things because of the largest domestic market for commodities in the world.

 

The economic weight of the EU becomes clear amongst other things in its representation in the “World Trade Organization” (WTO) as the solely non-state entity. In this economic power the FRG is the biggest economic power. It has a GDP of three trillion Euros and is right before France and the United Kingdom, its strongest imperialist competitors in the EU. The latter has eliminated itself as a direct competitor of German imperialism inside the EU as soon as the so-called Brexit has been realised, on what various representatives of German imperialism are insisting. Also politically the FRG ranks first inside the EU because it has an above average population in the EU. Thus it has a big advantage in various EU institutions like the EU parliament. There the FRG can decisively influence decisions and votes without having a vast majority, it is just the strongest faction in parliament.⁶ Another important institution with which the FRG is securing and expanding its supremacy inside the EU is the European Central Bank (ECB). Votes in the ECB are assessed on one side according to the GDP of a participating country and on the other side according to the capital which a national bank is holding there. The FRG is holding the biggest share with 18 percent, following are France (14.18%), the United Kingdom (13.67%), Italy (12.31%) and Spain (8.84%). In this way the FRG has a dual predominance, on one side it has the largest GDP and on the other side it is holding the biggest share. Through the ECB the value of the Euro is controlled, amongst other things through the interest rate policy of the ECB. On another hand the ECB is buying state bonds of the Euro-countries, of which it can determine the interest rates. In this manner the ECB decides how solvent which Euro-countries are.⁷ The importance and the will to consolidate and expand the EU under German hegemony are clearly expressed in the white paper:

 

“In the struggle for unity, Germany will continually seek a balance and work together with European institutions in order to bring these centrifugal forces under control, mediate between conflicting positions, and thus facilitate joint action. Once consensus is reached, European policy enjoys a high level of legitimacy and approval.”⁸

 

To expand this hegemony over other European countries is another goal of German imperialism:

 

“In addition, Germany is committed to the goal of a security order that includes all the states of the European continent.”⁹

 

The subordination of various states under the authority of the EU is consistently emphasized as the “European integration”, which occurs in different contexts throughout the white paper.

 

After fundamentally subordinating the economy and policy of the EU under German imperialism as described, it is now going about to subordinate the EU and its member countries in the military aspect to pave its way for becoming a superpower. To do so it wants to use the economic and political foundation of its hegemony inside the EU “for gradually establishing a European command and control philosophy”¹⁰. This “command and control philosophy” is to be mainly a philosophy of the leaderhip of German imperialism.

 

A start for the military leadership is already done, such the white paper is continuously demanding the development of a “European armaments industry”.

 

“-An independent, strong and competitive defence industry in Europe, including the national availability of key technologies, is essential.

-Multinational cooperation is strengthened by the lead nation approach.

 

-Innovation is the key to the future”¹¹

 

“The Europeanisation of Defence and the Retention of Key National Technologies

 

The defence industry in the EU remains highly fragmented along national lines. This results in unsatisfactory cost structures, disadvantages in international competition, and potentially higher burdens for our defence budget. The national focus can also lead to a lack of interoperability between European armed forces when on operations together.

 

For this reason we must plan, develop, procure and deliver military capabilities together and increase the interoperability of armed forces in Europe so that we can enhance Europe’s capacity to take action. The Bundeswehr will do everything it can to support the efforts of the German Government in this respect.

 

At the same time we must protect our own technological sovereignty by maintaining key national technologies in order to ensure military capabilities and the security of supply chains.”¹²

 

Those plans are not just vague tasks which German imperialism is setting for itself but they are on the way to be realised. For example is the company Airbus an amalgamation created from various air-plane manufacturers from Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain. In the meantime Airbus is playing a big role in the European armaments industry. Another example is the planned merger of the German tank manufacturer Kraus-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and its French counterpart Nexter. Both already founded a common holding with the name KMW & Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS) in December 2015.¹³ In the future the armaments projects of EU countries are not just to be announced national but for companies in the whole EU. If the FRG is controlling the most important armaments monopolies through projects like KNDS the control over the “European armaments industry” is falling in its hands. It is key for German imperialism to create its military dominance inside the EU. Furthermore through this method it is possible to pass costs for the development and production of individual armaments products on to other EU countries while the FRG is keeping the control over their distribution. This is supposed to create some kind of division of labour of the “European armaments industry” so that not every country has to have everything and has to be able to do everything at the same time. This is the concept of “Framework Nation” which was developed by the FRG and which is mentioned also in the white paper.¹⁴ But as already said it is key for German imperialism to impose its own leadership. Therefore the European Defence Agency is to be taking over the planning and disposal of the means for armaments in the EU.¹⁵ The principal is the same as the one for the European Central Bank, something common in the EU is created, what is than becoming a supervisory body for German imperialism through the hegemony of the FRG. For this plan German imperialism is counting on its already won economic and political dominance inside the EU and on this basis it wants to impose its leadership in this aspect. This has not happened yet but it could be the case, sooner or later, when one side – the stronger one – is pushing through. In this process of course the oppressed countries inside of the EU will get further under the dominance of German imperialism.

 

“One nation (if possible on the side of the contractor and the contracting authority) should assume responsibility for the development and realisation of a project in a lead nation approach. Germany must support the lead nation function of other nations just as it must assume responsibility in selected lead nation projects.

[…]

 

The goal must be for European nations to take the next step toward a truly integrated industrial structure in Europe.”¹⁶

 

While doing so German imperialism although reserves certain so-called key technologies for itself, which have to be developed in self-responsibility. In this manner it secures its sovereignty for strategical important armaments, parallel to creating a “European armaments industry”. Besides others submarines, encryption technology and tanks are belonging to the key technologies. Their German manufacturers are held under centralised leadership of the FRG through subsidies, later more on this matter.

 

But with the control over the armaments industry of the EU German imperialism is not satisfied. Also the so-called Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as a part of the so-called Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the EU is to be pushed further.

 

“Germany has continually taken initiatives, particularly in the Weimar Triangle consultation forum established together with France and Poland, to further develop and intensify CSDP. But it must be possible to use CSDP in a better and more effective way in future.”¹⁷

 

“CSDP includes the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy. This is intended to lead to a common defence. This means that, in accordance with the mutual defence clause in the Treaty of Lisbon, EU member states have an obligation towards one another to provide aid and assistance by all means in their power if a member state is the victim of armed aggression on its territory. Article 42(7) TEU was invoked by France for the first time in the history of the EU following the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.

 

In view of geopolitical shifts and global demographic developments, the only way we can assert the security interests of the EU over the long term, and thus maintain the political weight of the countries of Europe, is by seeking a greater degree of commonality.”¹⁸

 

So the policy of war of the EU is to be conducted centralised. For this the CSDP includes civil-military, military and police measures. For their planning permanent structures are being created, like the Political and Security Committee (PSC), the EU military committee and the EU military staff. But besides those committees there is also an increasing desire for merging on the army and police levels. The “European Army” was not just like that a topic once again this year. Concretely set up are the so-called EU-Battlegroups which are comprised of 1500 soldiers from different EU countries and is to be fit for action in 10 to 15 days. Goal of the EU is to be capable to move up to 60,000 soldiers for a mission of at least one year in 60 days.¹⁹ In the context of the CSDP there are at least six military missions at the moment mainly in Africa.

 

The issues of the Lead Nation approach and the “Framework Nation” have to be examined in the light of the centralisation of the EU policy of war and the implementation of the military leadership. The definition of Lead Nation reads:

 

“The Lead Nation is that nation with the will and capability, competence, and influence to provide the essential elements of political consultation and military leadership to coordinate the planning, mounting, and execution of a coalition military operation. Within the overarching organizational framework provided by the Lead Nation, other nations participating in the coalition may be designated as Functional Lead Agent(s) to provide and/or coordinate specific critical subfunctions of the operation and its execution, based on national capability. These constructs may apply at the strategic, operational, and/or tactical levels.”²⁰

 

So the Lead Nation approach is the implementation of the leadership of one imperialist state during an imperialist aggression and the subordination of military capacities of other countries to raise the force level and dispose certain tasks to other alliance partners. The FRG wants to create its capacities to do so and also wants to create the possibilities for their alliance partners to dispose various tasks to them. But this concept is mainly for some military missions or coalitions. The “Framework Nation” concept however is much more far-reaching and long-term aiming process which makes clear that German imperialism wants to subordinate the EU and the individual member countries also militarily.

 

“The German Framework Nations Concept (FNC) is a key contribution to the European defence cooperation debate: It should allow preserving European capabilities through sustained cooperation, and thus guarantee the continued capacity to act for European militaries.”²¹

 

“It is this point the Framework Nations Concept aims to address. According to the FNC, European states should form clusters, that is- groups of smaller and larger states, that will henceforth coordinate more closely who will provide which assets and troops on a long term basis. The “Framework Nation” takes the lead of such a cluster. It will pro-vide the group first and foremost with the military backbone, i.e. logistics, command & control, etc. Into this frame, smaller nations would plug their specialized capabilities, such as air defence or engineer units.”²²

 

“The realization of the concept requires European states to organize themselves militarily around the few large states that retain wider capability spectra”²³

 

“First, it justifies the maintenance of the spectrum of its capabilities and military structures [for Germany], retainedunder the “breadth before depth” philosophy of the recent military reform. The Bundeswehr can regain its depth, i.e. sustainability in operations (which it lost in the course of cut-backs) through the contributions of others. […] Second, the FNC would take internation-al defence planning to a new level: Partners would now have to plan in a more detailed, reliable, and coordinated way.”²⁴

 

“The FNC, however, explicitly takes this existing dependence as a planning premise: It suggests to generate multinational units, from which national shares can only be withdrawn with difficulty.” ²⁵

 

German imperialism has also done first steps in this issue already, therefore the Dutch air-mobile brigade was integrated into German commando structure and ten states are supposed to have expressed their interest for this kind of “cooperation” under the leadership of the FRG.

 

At this point we need to make a note. Even when German imperialism is striving to develop into a superpower and is doing progress in this regard, nonetheless it is definitely not. The strongest imperialist superpower and therefore the main enemy of the peoples of the world is still Yankee imperialism and German imperialism just exists in its shadow, like the situation in Ukraine has shown. Where German imperialism lost control of the situation and the Yankees took over. But the will of German imperialism to develop more and more independent from Yankee imperialism becomes clear. This explains the reaction of German financial capital and its various factions on the election results in the USA. When the German Chancellor is acting like she could dictate the new US government conditions for further cooperation. Thus German financial capital is trying to accelerate a process which has already begun because the development of German imperialism into a superpower is only possible contradictory to Yankee imperialism. The white paper already adheres to this:

 

“[...]increase European capability development and the interlinking of European armed forces by means of the Framework Nations Concept in order to strengthen NATO’s European pillar. In this context, Germany is prepared to pave the way and assume a wide range of responsibilities as the framework nation.”²⁶

 

“The transatlantic security partnership will grow closer and become more productive the more we Europeans are prepared to shoulder a larger share of the common burden, and the more our American partners engage in shared decision-making. Germany embraces the joint responsibility that arises from the common Euro-Atlantic system of values.”²⁷

 

“Strengthening NATO’s European Pillar

NATO’s European pillar is growing in significance. The European member states are called upon to assume greater responsibility, also in terms of a more balanced form of burden sharing. Germany in particular has taken on a special responsibility in this regard.

[…]

 

Germany introduced the Framework Nations Concept into NATO. This concept requires European NATO members to pool their capabilities to form multinational capability clusters in a structured and binding approach, and also to arrange themselves into larger units. The German Government is committed to increasing the relevance and visibility of European capabilities within NATO.”²⁸

 

“Strengthening NATO's European Pillar” does not mean anything else than to use the EU to reject the hegemony of the USA more and more and exactly to this purpose everything that is done right now “because of Trump” serves this. Also the situation in Ukraine is used once more to break off faster from the hegemony of Yankee imperialism. Therefore the FRG and France took over the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine through the so-called Normandy format.

 

The end justifies the means

In pursuit of developing into an imperialist superpower German imperialism is also intensifying its aggression abroad further. Already it is participating in a large number of military efforts mainly in Europe (especially in former Yugoslavia), Africa and Western Asia. The last started effort is the air support for the war on the Arabic peoples in Western Asia. But despite the existing efforts the will and the tendency to multiply these efforts is unambiguously. The conclusion of the white paper regarding the recent years reads: “The Bundeswehr had become a “force on operations”.”²⁹

 

Justifications for the intensified aggression abroad are formulated like this:

 

“Germany is highly interconnected with the rest of the world and – due to its economic, political and military significance, but also as a result of its vulnerabilities – has a responsibility to actively participate in shaping the global order. Germany is increasingly regarded as a key player in Europe. With this new reality come more options to exert influence but also increased responsibility.

 

[…]

 

Germany’s prosperity and economy are highly dependent on appropriate conditions – both in Europe and globally.”³⁰

“In summary, the security interests of Germany are as follows:

-protecting our citizens as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country;

-protecting the territorial integrity, the sovereignty and the citizens of our allies;

-maintaining the rules-based international order on the basis of international law;

-ensuring prosperity for our citizens through a strong German economy as well as free and unimpeded world trade;

-promoting the responsible use of limited goods and scarce resources throughout the world;

-deepening European integration and

-consolidating the transatlantic partnership.”³¹

 

“Threats to Information and Communication Systems, Supply Lines, Transportation and Trade Routes as well as to the Secure Supply of Raw Materials and Energy

 

In the future, the prosperity of our country and the well-being of our citizens will significantly depend on the unhindered use of global information and communication systems, supply lines, transportation and trade routes as well as on a secure supply of raw materials and energy.Any interruption of access to these global public goods on land, in the air, at sea, in the cyber and information domain, and in space involves considerable risks for the ability of our state to function and for the prosperity of our citizens. Besides terrorist attacks, other potential causes include piracy, forced political, economic and military measures, as well as failing states and regional crises. Increasing investments by various states in capabilities that deny third countries access to specific areas (anti-access/area denial) are particularly significant in this context.

 

In view of the many potential causes and targets, Germany and its allies and partners must make flexible use of foreign and security policy instruments in order to prevent and remove disruptions and blockades.”³²

 

“3.3 Unhindered Use of Information and Communication Systems, Supply Lines, Transportation and Trade Routes as well as the Secure Supply of Raw Materials and Energy

 

Our economy relies as much on the secure supply of raw materials and on secure international transportation routes as it does on functioning information and communication systems.

Securing maritime supply routes and ensuring freedom of the high seas is of significant importance for an exporting nation like Germany which is highly dependent on unimpeded maritime trade. Disruptions to our supply routes caused by piracy, terrorism and regional conflicts can have negative repercussions on our country’s prosperity.

[…]

 

Germany must therefore work towards ensuring the unhindered use of ground, air and sea lines of communication as well as of space and the cyber and information domain. Continuously reviewing and refining agreements and institutions that ensure a rules-based international order will remain an important task.”³³

 

The “German interests” are clearly exceeding the state borders of the FRG. Other countries and its citizens are supposed to be “protected” by German imperialism this means nothing else than to install protectorates and it is a great excuse to get involved into the matters of other countries.

 

Furthermore it is clearly defined that German imperialism cannot continue to exist and get stronger without the increasing subjugation and exploitation of other peoples and the international proletariat. Its tying its power and its prosperity openly to the defense of economic interests in the world. A statement for which a few years back a Head of State was chased from his position (just because he “revealed” the truth) can now be read just openly in a basic strategy document of FRG. At the same time the protection of the “prosperity” of the population in the hinterland of German imperialism is an expression of the necessity to use superprofits of the imperialists to buy off the majority of the population to “establish peace”. For this the protection of the sea lines is necessary for the “exporting nation Germany”. Access to other domestic markets outside of the EU probably is going to be more important for German imperialism. The “securing of the sea lines” that is emphasized continuously in the white paper surely will be followed very soon by the armament of the German navy. Therefore the “active shaping of the global order” is such a crucial point in the white paper. The willingness to get involved in the new division of the world is reaffirmed once more.

 

“Germany’s strategic priorities define our country’s security ambitions on the basis of our values and interests and in a way that reflects the challenges we face. They are essential for identifying key areas of engagement at national and international levels which are the focus of German security policy. The strategic priorities therefore not only specify what Germany is willing to do to safeguard its interests in the security environment. They also identify areas in which Germany is prepared to assume responsibility and lead.”³⁴

“In future, there will continue to be situations in which robust military intervention in accordance with international law is needed to enable diplomacy to move toward acceptable political solutions.”³⁵

 

“In view of Germany’s increased responsibility for security, we must be in a position to meet these challenges, if necessary by deploying armed German forces.”³⁶

 

The militarily orientation of the FRG is not any more centred on the protection of its own territories although it is referred to in the white paper to serve as a fig leaf. The defense of the interests of German imperialism is clearly the centre of attention and this means no matter where in the world it might be. The constant war propaganda shows already first repercussions in the German population, therefore according to a (alleged) representative survey from November 2016 now 41 percent of the German population over the age of 18 are approving an intensified “commitment” of the FRG – which means policy of war, the year before it was 34 percent. Parallel to this the share of opponents of war is dropping according to the survey.³⁷ If this survey is actually a representative one or part of the war propaganda remains a suspect matter. Recently the Bundeswehr participated officially with 3,264 soldiers in 14 missions in foreign countries, mainly in Africa and Western Asia.³⁸ Even though the upper limits of the military mandates is usually much higher than the currently deployed number of soldiers. An example is the mission in Western Asia where there are currently 266 soldiers deployed but the upper limit of the mandate permits up to 1,200 soldiers. Therefore German imperialism is keeping the option to intensify its aggression there.

 

At the beginning of 2017 there are going to be added 500 more soldiers in another mission, when the FRG is deploying these troops in the context of a NATO mission in Lithuania. The NATO mission is going to position altogether 4,000 troops in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia against Russian imperialism. In this the FRG is going to have the leadership for the international troops stationed in Lithuania which include troops from the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway. Leadership in the other countries is taken by the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. Besides the 500 soldiers the FRG is going to station 20 mechanised infantry combat vehicles, six battle tanks and 170 other vehicles.³⁹ In addition to the foreign missions of the Bundeswehr there are 150 federal police officers stationed worldwide in the context of various missions, mainly in African countries.⁴⁰

 

Also the role of integration and the taking of advantage of various nationalities as strategic factors are referred to by the white paper:

“

Equal Opportunities, Diversity, Inclusion

German society is becoming more colourful and diverse. The Bundeswehr sees this diversity as an opportunity. Like other armed forces, the Bundeswehr benefits from a greater variety of experience and qualifications. Intercultural skills and multilingualism help to accomplish missions. Teams with different experiences and backgrounds are more successful than homogeneous groups. At the same time, deliberate engagement with diversity strengthens the role of the Bundeswehr in society. All these aspects will help the Bundeswehr to achieve a stronger personnel base and to be more successful. Encouraging diversity and equal opportunities, for example with respect to ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender identity, is a top priority at all command levels. As one of the nation’s largest and most diverse employers, the Bundeswehr seeks to appeal to all sectors of society.”⁴¹

“Multinationality and integration are and will remain the key factors shaping the Bundeswehr of the future. They are reflected in structures, operations, capability development and armaments policy, among other things. The expectations placed on Germany to assume responsibility, including as a framework nation, require it to provide or support critical capabilities that are needed for other nations to participate in operations.

[…]

This will enable the Bundeswehr, as an instrument of German security policy, to effectively perform its many new and multifaceted tasks.”⁴²

 

The importance of integration and other nationalities is positively emphasized, something that “is helping to accomplish missions”. More concretely this means that it is essential for soldiers to know the languages and the customs of the local population when you are waging war on other countries. This is especially helpful in case of a prolonged occupation of a country. Examining this strategic focus and applying it to the point of time at the beginning of the sharpening of the war in Syria it is possible to see how systematic German imperialists are working.

 

At this point of time they were bringing 5000 Syrians in planes, at public expense and with reception by the Federal Minister of the Interior at the time Friedrich into the FRG. There was no talk of “flood of refugees”, “refugee crisis” or “refugee chaos”. There was no threat of deportation and no discussion over allegedly rising criminality by refugees; they were hand-picked selected by the Federal Office for Migration.⁴³ Today, a few years later the FRG is actively participating in the war in Syria. That there was built a corresponding detachment for the German armed forces to be able to intervene in a higher quality in Western Asia and to wage war on the Arabic peoples seems to be likely. Just like Yankee imperialism did in the 1960ies with the so-called exile-Cubans which were trained for the (miserably failed) attack on the Pigs Bay.

 

Development as a weapon

The white paper is reoccurringly mentioning the strategic important role of the so-called development aid:

 

“Our security policy must focus on strengthening legitimate political structures in the affected regions and increasing their resilience. The early detection and prevention of state failure and the long-term stabilisation of fragile and failing states require a comprehensive approach that can make a timely and substantial contribution to the mobilisation of appropriate foreign, development and security policy instruments in the area of prevention and crisis management.”⁴⁴

 

“If continued in an appropriate fashion, the initiated change in the long-term allocation of resources will allow German foreign, security, defence and development policy to meet known and anticipated challenges. A flexible and sustainable use of resources will ensure a rapid response even to events that are difficult to foresee and the threats emanating from them. Only in this way can the protection of people in Germany be prepared and shaped.”⁴⁵

 

“Germany will pursue this overall approach to stabilising its international environment by

-supporting the establishment of legitimate and viable state and social structures by means of foreign and development policy, policing, and legal and judicial instruments. Human security and the possibility of self-determined and sustainable development are goals of equal importance”⁴⁶

 

“HUMAN SECURITY

When the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015, it expressly recognised for the first time ever that peace and security are inseparably linked to sustainable development and respect for human rights. Peace and security are only permanently possible in and between inclusive societies that observe the rule of law and maintain good governance and effective institutions. An international order based on partnership, equitable globalisation, commitment to ensuring universal respect for human rights, the fight against extreme poverty and hunger, the protection of our natural environment so that all people can live in dignity in their native countries, and the creation of human security worldwide are all factors that contribute to our national security.”⁴⁷

“To ensure the effectiveness of our future whole-of-government commitment to security, we must in particular

[…]

-fund, develop and provide the resources for a full range of foreign, security and development policy instruments on a sustainable basis with available financial resources”⁴⁸

So-called development policy or development aid is organised in the FRG by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (German: Bundesministerium für Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung; abbreviated: BMZ). The BMZ is running basically state-organised export of capital, first of all into the oppressed nations. It develops the bureaucratic capitalism in these countries in favour of German imperialism what condemns those peoples further to semi-colonial and semi-feudal opression and exploitation. This becomes clear when examining the strategy paper “Promotion of a sustainable agriculture” of the BMZ from 2013. This paper is a binding guide for state-organisations for the development of bureaucratic capitalism in oppressed nations.

“The key precondition for reviving the rural economy is the availability of public and private infrastructure. Along with promoting the economy, strategies for protecting natural resources and measures in regard to services of a general economic interest are necessary, more specifically, though, a political/institutional framework in rural regions that is conducive to development.”⁴⁹

 

A first point is made here, in fact the intervention in the infrastructure of the affected countries. To reach further goals in the exploitation of the oppressed nations a sufficient infrastructure needs to be created there. Also direct intervention in politics and state apparatus is stipulated to create corresponding conditions. Furthermore the coordination and the disposition of the exported capitals in a planned manner constitute an important task for the BMZ:

 

“German development policy supports close cooperation and coordination with other donors and making the urgently required progress on harmonising donor contributions.”⁵⁰

“The most important policy framework for private-sector and civil-society commitment in the agricultural sector includes clearly defined and binding property rights and rights of use, a fair competition policy, stable financial systems and clear regulatory structures, for instance tax legislation and economic courts.

[…]

The competent institutions must be promoted and, where necessary, restructured so that the measures can be implemented and monitored.”⁵¹

 

The basic conditions have to be sketched out, the property of the imperialists has to be protected, the investments have to get to a stable environment so that they do not just become lost for the imperialists. The BMZ declares this for important framework conditions and as we have already seen German imperialism is really worried about creating frames. Furthermore under the direct control of German imperialism there is to be created and reorganised corresponding (state) institutions, this way it is able to consolidate itself directly inside the state apparatuses of the bureaucrat-capitalist states.

 

“One core task is to adapt market conditions in such a way that agricultural financing becomes a worthwhile business segment for financial institutions and smaller agricultural producers become attractive customers.”⁵²

 

This is a small excerpt of the strategy of the BMZ, with which it is working in at least 67 countries in the world.

 

In September of this year the Federal Minister for Development Müller held a speech in front of “German Forum Security Policy” in which he analysed another field of activity of the so-called development aid:

 

“Therefore we need to think our development, foreign and security policy collectively and shape it coordinated. We need to find common solutions for conflicts. Otherwise more and more refugees are going to look for security with us. And we need to create opportunities in life for everyone. Otherwise the people will look here for their future.”⁵³

 

“Therefore it is clear: Development needs a minimum of security. Civil crisis prevention needs to be militarily accompanied. We thank the Bundeswehr for the good cooperation in crisis regions. But we need to discuss where and on what terms military missions are reasonable. I plead for a massive strengthening of the African Union in Africa. Africa needs to be supported in resolving crisis itself.”⁵⁴

“If we do intervene militarily then only in a linked approach. And development has to get a new priority in this! A military mission can never begin without the question: What will we do afterwards? Isolated military missions did mercilessly fail. Who is intervening militarily has also to take up civil responsibility!”⁵⁵

“Civil commitment has to be a firm element of mission mandates!”⁵⁶

“We need to develop goals for crisis countries cross-departmental. And we need to synchronise (civil, militarily, political) our instruments better on each other.”⁵⁷

 

He shows clearly besides all humanistic set phrases of German imperialism that the so-called development aid and the military intervention are parts of a combined strategy of the FRG. Especially the ability of German imperialism to conduct prolonged occupations of countries is a part of it. On the one hand it needs a subjected people to get minimum sentience that it is getting at least something and there have to be created appropriate puppet regimes to suppress the resistance of people. On the other hand it is an economic issue. When a country is “rebuild” under occupation after a war of conquest the occupying power gives contract to its own monopolies. So it boosts the export of capital of the national monopolistic companies and it usually pays for the “reconstruction efforts”. Similar to the so-called military-industrial complex (see below) this is part of the development of corporativism and hence part of the fascist tendency of the German state.

 

Internal Formation

German imperialism not only wants to intensify the outwards aggression on all levels. Also internal in the German state it is planning to restructure with the goal of an increased militarisation of the society.

 

“Armaments-related R&T activities are thus a central driver of innovation in the armed forces and the defence industry. Spillover effects into civilian industry (dual-use applications) continue to be a desirable secondary effect and goal of military R&T.”⁵⁸

“National security is not only a task of the state, but increasingly a joint task of the state, industry, the scientific community, and society. A common understanding of potential risks is the basis on which to build whole-of-society resilience.”⁵⁹

 

What is described here taken as a positive example is the so-called military-industrial complex. It is a combination between state and armaments industry just like development of state capitalism produced in the USA. Here made the petty-bourgeois political scientist Noam Chomsky a correct observation. Chomsky has shown how every invention presented by Yankee imperialism in the last decades has its origin in contracts from the state to the national armaments industry. Essentially the so-called military-industrial complex means that the state demands a development in a field of armaments (see framework nation concept). This contract is announced national and is given to one of the big monopolies. That monopoly gets all of its research and development for this project funded by the state. This work leads to a result which is presented to the client (the state) who is accepting or rejecting it. No matter what is happening here the whole of the research and its results become property of the developing company. Therefore monopolies have great basic research and they can use all of it to develop other products. Those are the so-called spillover effects. During the research for an armaments project technologies for non-military use are being created. An everyday example for such a spillover effect is Teflon in frying pans and cooking pots; it was a coating for artillery shells. With the promotion of this model German imperialism is deciding that the military has to take a bigger role in technical and social innovation and thous science is to be more militarised by financial capital.

 

But also on other levels the state is aiding the armaments industry. For example the FRG is using the Bundeswehr to transport Eurofighter jets to an arms-fair in India via air-force. Additionally has the German Ministry of Defence created the workgroup “Eurofighter Export”. It is supposed to support “inside of legal given framework conditions on request of the industry in fields in which the industry depends on official services”.⁶⁰ That way the sale of combat aircraft is promoted directly by the German state. Another example is the field of navy. Here the Bundeswehr is offering to give up instructors to train seamen of customer states in the use of submarines and other combat ships. It is an obvious aid for exports by the German state.

 

That a clearly calculated power politics is the case and in present-day not mainly a policy for economic interests is confirmed by a statement of representatives of the “Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik”, they say: “Economically Germany is not depending on the armaments industry” and they show that “observed economically the armaments industry has just little weight” because the in classic armaments industry there are less than 20,000 directly employed persons and the share of the security branch in the GDP is “generously calculated” just one percent.⁶¹

 

Additionally is to be:

“-the exchange of personnel between ministries must be intensified; this will promote the growth of expertise and the flow of information at all levels and

-joint training and exercises for state and non-state actors must be promoted to enable them to operate throughout the entire crisis cycle; this will further enhance extensive cooperation on the basis of mutual understanding.”⁶²

And:

“Extensive autonomy will no longer be the guiding principle in personnel policy. Instead, permeability between the Bundeswehr and industry will have to be increased. Exchange schemes between industry and the Bundeswehr which facilitate cooperation with external personnel for a specific period of time are one way of meeting this challenge.”⁶³

“Reserves

The Bundeswehr and industry can benefit from one another to an even greater extent. The lively exchange facilitated by reservists is special in this regard. The reserves will have an important role in developing and delivering capabilities required in the future. Bundeswehr reserve forces will remain indispensable for national and collective defence, homeland security, and international crisis management operations. Reservists not only make a valuable contribution across the mission spectrum of the Bundeswehr in Germany and abroad. Their ongoing commitment is also a symbol of the strong link between the armed forces and society.

To meet needs and also build resilience in society, we must encourage permeability between the Bundeswehr, society and industry. In particular, this will involve

-making reserve service as a whole more attractive;

-enhancing it so that reservists and external personnel can deliver reliable long-term support, especially in the cyber domain (cyber reserve) and

-creating reserve exchange arrangements between industry and the Bundeswehr which improve cooperation with external personnel.”⁶⁴

 

A stronger personal union is to be created and therefore a personnel interconnection between economy and armed forces. In this the reserves are playing a peculiar role. On the one hand the purpose of the reserves is of course to be able to mobilise a large army if needed. On the other hand they are making the desired effect possible to increase the “permeability between industry and the Bundeswehr”, particularly. That way the reserves are learning from the industry, are able to make contacts and they also bring the military into the industry. This and the so-called military-industrial complex are deeply corporativist elements which are working for controlling the economy by the bourgeois state and as such this shows the fascist tendency of the German state FRG.

 

Counterinsurgency

The white paper also intensely explains the domestic policy of the FRG and the internal security:

 

“It is no longer possible to draw a sharp distinction between internal and external security.”⁶⁵

“This means intensifying cooperation between government bodies, citizens and private operators of critical infrastructure, as well as the media and network operators. Everyone involved in this approach must work closely together.”⁶⁶

 

On this foundation it formulates the legal, constitutionally verified pretence for an internal deployment of the Bundeswehr:

“Deployment and Role of the Bundeswehr in Germany

In accordance with Article 35(1) of the German constitution, the armed forces may render administrative assistance at home. Such measures are limited to technical and logistic support. They are below the threshold of operations. Refugee aid and relief is a current example of such assistance. The Bundeswehr cannot exercise enforcement measures and sovereign powers on this basis.

In Article 35(2), second sentence, and (3), the German constitution expressly allows the deployment of the armed forces at home at the request of a federal state or at the instruction of the German Government in the event of natural disasters and serious accidents (emergency situations). Large-scale terrorist attacks can be considered to be such an emergency situation. The German Constitutional Court has confirmed that, in order to assist the police in effectively managing emergency situations, the armed forces may, in certain conditions, perform sovereign tasks and exercise powers of intervention and enforcement.

In the context of present-day threat situations, the deployment of the armed forces in effective disaster response plays an important role within the narrow limits of unusual emergency situations and in accordance with current constitutional law. It is important to foster good cooperation between the federal and state authorities that work together in the event of a disaster and to conduct exercises for them. We must be able to rely on them as part of a common and responsible approach to ensuring security in our country.

Irrespective of this, the German Government can, in a state of defence or tension, employ the armed forces for facility protection and traffic control responsibilities pursuant to Article 87a(3) of the German constitution.According to Article 87a(4) of the constitution, the armed forces can also be deployed in the event of an internal emergency if the conditions referred to in Article 91(2) are fulfilled, in other words if there is an imminent danger to the existence or free democratic basic order of Germany or of a federal state. The strict conditions to which the use of the armed forces in internal emergencies is tied precludes any recourse to Article 35(2) or (3) of the constitution.”⁶⁷

 

Basically German imperialism is creating a seemingly legal legitimation through this on the basis of its own legislature to use its armed forces in its own country. Though phrases like “internal emergency”, “serious accidents” and “imminent danger to the existence of free democratic basic order” can be extended to almost every situation with a little legal skill. For example, is a situation like the G20 summit in Hamburg next year an “internal emergency”? Or Olympic Games? Certainly possible because during the World Cup 2006 the Bundeswehr was already used interior.⁶⁸ Such major events also needs to be examined in the context of the militarising of the society. It is certainly not a coincidence that more and more of those major events are being held. The increasingly pushed on candidature to host the Olympic Games or the selection of whole major cities for a summit of the greatest genocidaires in the world are to be to get accustomed to the state of emergency. The military occupation of cities (at the moment mainly through police forces), tanks and similar vehicles in the streets, all of that is to become the everyday life of the population. Then the leap to an everyday presence of the Bundeswehr is not so far. The whole internal security is militarised that way.

 

Some recent examples are exemplary for this. So there are going to be created armed military units for the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The so-called BFE+ was created. This troop is to be extended up to a strength of 250 men⁶⁹, which corresponds exactly to the highest strength of a military company. It is equipped with the medium ranged gun G36c, which was until now only used by the GSG9. It therefore possesses a weapon of war. This unit is put under the control of the Federal Police, just like the regular BFE and the GSG9. The members of this unit are trained by the GSG9 in shooting and tactical approaches in a six weeks long workshop. If they are not on special missions they are to be used for the everyday tasks of the riot police.⁷⁰ Besides other things that means operations during demonstrations, that way this military unit of the Ministry of the Interior is training on various levels of counterinsurgency. Other equipment is upgraded too: folding ballistic shields and bulletproof vests of protection class 4, which are to be holding up to automatic rifles.⁷¹ Only in November this year the police of Hamburg presented their new operations tank which is going to replace the older models. The new tank is armoured against machine guns and various explosive devices. Inside the tank besides the two drivers there is space for eight more persons; therefore the Hamburg police is now in the possession of an armoured troop transporter. A big novelty is that it can be mounted with a machine gun on the roof if needed. Surely this is not a mandatory necessity during operations against persons running amok.⁷² But is much rather for civil war situations and uprisings of the own population.

 

Imperialist alliances

Compared to Yankee imperialism German imperialism is strongly dependent on alliances with other imperialist countries to accomplish its military interests. Therefore it is using so-called ad hoc cooperation:

 

"Ad hoc cooperation will continue to gain significance as an instrument of international crisis and conflict management. Germany will take account of this development and, in cases where it can protect its interests in this way, will participate in ad hoc cooperation and initiate it with its partners.”⁷³

“Bundeswehr Missions Abroad

Bundeswehr missions abroad over the past twenty years have been conducted in compliance with international and constitutional law and in and according to the rules of mutual collective security systems.

In recent times the number of deployments and missions necessitating immediate and resolute action has grown. A rapid response is frequently called for when it comes to countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, tackling human and drug trafficking on the high seas, and supporting partners at short notice in stabilisation operations. This increasingly leads to ad hoc cooperation between states.”⁷⁴

 

Those ad hoc cooperation are created to accomplish a certain task. The intervention in Libya was an ad hoc cooperation. A current example is the international coalition against the Islamic State through which the imperialists organise their aggression against the Arabic peoples in Western Asia. Participating are the FRG, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Australia, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey under the leadership of the USA (not participating in this alliance but in the air strikes in Western Asia are also Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar). For German imperialism the purpose of the ad hoc cooperation is besides the gathering of military capacities also to suspend the law of nations. Indeed the FRG is paying a lip service to the law of nations, also in the white paper, but in reality it is setting straight that it does not accept the law of nations as a principle. Therefore last year the FRG refused to sign a declaration for the protection of schools in war zones.⁷⁵ According to the law of nations the United Nations and its Security Council are the only institutions which are allowed to decide about the use of military means (except for actual national defense), thus war. But these institutions are under the dominance of Yankee imperialism, therefore German imperialism needs to gather enough forces and needs to create precedents if it wants to lead military missions on its own authority, so that the UN and the Security Council are forced to accept it. Therefore German imperialism is showing once more that it can only develop contradictory to the official world order which emerged after the Second World War and therefore is striving for a new division of the world.

 

“The international order, which was established after World War II and whose organisations and institutions still provide a framework for international politics, is undergoing profound changes. The drivers and effects of these changes are varied and numerous.”⁷⁶

 

The current international situation and its complexity, the complexity of the wars in the world, are an expression of the 50 to 100 years, Chairman Mao talked about, in which imperialism is going to be extinguished once and for all from the face of the earth. In this situation German imperialism is trying to bring itself into position. It learned from its past mistakes, like it missed the opportunity to get a large piece during the division of the world before the First World War and it learned that a too openly martial behaviour can unite too many forces against it, like in the Second World War. It is seeing in the current situation the possibility to increase participation in the new division of the world. It is not yet capable to affront the superpower USA and the atomic superpower Russia; it is lacking (militarily) on the one hand the strength and width of conventional armed forces and on the other hand atomic weapons. Therefore it is in the current situation not capable to make a leap into a superpower. But German imperialism is working hard on it. It created foundations and through the white paper it clearly shows that it has the will. But in the end all imperialists are paper tigers. We are now in the strategic offensive of the proletarian world revolution, in the period of the 50 to 100 years and the international proletariat and the peoples of the world are going to sweep this rotten system from the face of the earth in this period. German imperialism has learned from its history and also the communists have to learn from their own history. The International Communist Movement has collected a great wealth of experience, from which communists all over the world need to learn. It is the duty of the communists in Germany to fight German imperialism, any convergence with it has to be repudiated. This is an important principle which is an important dividing line to revisionism and its breed. For the Communists in the FRG the struggle against German imperialism is in the current period a struggle for the reconstitution of the Communist Party of Germany on the basis of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, principally Maoism and the universal contribution of Chairman Gonzalo. Every day this task is delayed means new and more suffering for the international proletariat and the peoples of the world, caused by German imperialism.

 

Editorial staff of the magazine KLASSENSTANDPUNKT

December 2016