“Soft Power” of Germany: Challenges and Development Outlook
After World War II, Germany had chosen soft power as the basis of its foreign policy strategy. Germany has been at the top of the soft power rankings for many years. Today, however, most of Germany's traditional sources of soft power are at stake. The crisis of European ideology, modern military conflicts, the emergence of new power centers, as well as the intrinsic characteristics of development are the risk factors that make the “soft power” policy of Germany must be revised.
The author of the term “soft power” Joseph Nye defined it as “the ability to achieve necessary results through attraction, not coercion or payment”. For Germany, the need to make a positive image on the world stage and therefore, the emphasis on “soft power” in formulating foreign policy strategies after World War II is due to several factors: historical, ideological, and geopolitical factors. And finally, Germany eventually emerged from political isolation and economic devastation and became a locomotive of development in Europe.
Germany's soft power challenges
It is possible to temporarily distinguish three groups of risk factors that are closely related to the successful application of German policy on “soft power”: foreign policy, external economic factors, and domestic factors, including problems from the last century and new challenges.
Foreign policy challenges include, first, the development of Europeanism. To fix the aggressor's reputation, postwar Germany played an active role in promoting European integration, as support for the development of supranational institutions allowed Germany to avoid suspicions of plotting hegemony. In addition, the EU has an image of a prosperous region with a developed democracy and a high standard of living for its people. As a result, European integration has become a pillar of Germany's soft power policy. However, after new members from Central and Eastern Europe joined the EU, the EU had difficulty in formulating a unified strategy due to the disproportionate development and large number of member states. The crisis of the common European idea reached its climax at the time of the victory in the referendum of the supporters of secession from the Union in Britain. Brexit shows that the appeal of the EU is no longer simple.
The imbalance between economic power and political influence in the world, as demonstrated by the country's lack of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, remains a serious problem for Germany as well. This limits the potential of soft power, as it caused Germany to be stigmatized after World War II.
In addition, the emphasis on “soft power” and the renunciation of military power is increasingly problematic in the context of new military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, regarding NATO's role in Europe reappeared and the importance of power increased. An even more serious challenge is the migration crisis related to the Syrian war. Germany, traditionally acting as a guarantor of stability and peace in Europe and a defender of democratic ideals and human rights, has declared its readiness to assume the main burden of accepting refugees. Syrian disaster. However, it quickly became apparent that the scale of the migration crisis had resulted in enormous material costs and increased social unrest. Thus, Germany faces a choice: continue to carry the burden or sacrifice its image of an oasis of justice. The problem became especially acute in connection with the growing influence of right-wing populist parties in Germany and the rise of nationalism and far-right movements in other European countries. The imbalance between economic power and political influence in the world, as demonstrated by the country's lack of a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, remains a serious problem for Germany as well. This limits the potential of soft power, as it caused Germany to be stigmatized after World War II.
Regarding the external economic challenges to the success of the “soft power” policy, first, the global economic and financial crisis of 2008-2009 and the national debt crisis of 2010-2011. The need to provide support to Greece and the problem of evenly distributing the debt, which entailed significant material costs from Germany, again left the country with a choice: maintain its reputation as a supporter of the association penetrate deeply into Europe or take care of their own economic well-being.
Finally, a significant risk factor for Germany is the emergence of powerful new players on the world stage such as India, Brazil and China. The positive economic developments of these countries jeopardize Germany's credibility as one of the economic leaders. Since Germany's image as a strong nation is based primarily on economic success, there is a risk that this resource of “soft power” may be exhausted in the future. This situation is exacerbated by new economic leaders who are also beneficial trading partners, and Germany, as an export-oriented country, is actively engaged in relationship building. bilateral relationship with them, which is seen as hostile by its neighbors in the European Union, who criticize it for its desire to isolate itself and to ignore the multilateral model of interaction.
As for the influence of internal factors, it is important to note that the policy of “soft power”, in addition to a successful economy, is also based on the image of Germany as a socially oriented country with a high standard of civic life. However, maintaining this image faces some challenges. In particular, the demographic crisis and the aging of the population have led to an unsustainable social system, increasing government spending, and periodically approaching 50% of GDP. The cumbersome welfare state is no longer effective. In addition, there is a lack of facilities to train qualified specialists and experts to deal with foreign policy strategic research. Lack of investment in human capital and brain drain are another major challenge to German soft power policy.
Development outlook
The problems listed above in the implementation of the “soft power” policy of the Federal Republic of Germany led to the need to amend it to consider new realities. First, Germany, as the leader of the EU, needs to focus on European politics. Urgent solutions are needed to find a new European idea and overcome centrifugal tendencies. To enhance the competence of the EU, close cooperation of member states is required, clearly addressing the issue of the relationship between national and supranational bodies. In essence, however, this measure would have rather negative consequences, both in terms of financial costs and in maintaining Germany's image as a peaceful nation. However, if military power is combined with “soft power” in the right proportions, this constitutes the resource of so-called “smart power”, the successful use of which can become a in possible ways to solve the problem. Extensive cooperation with NATO could also allow Germany to strengthen its security without triggering a hostile reaction from its European neighbors.
In dealing with migration, it is important to first focus on eliminating the causes of large-scale refugee flows. International cooperation in ??anti-crisis resolution and participation in the solution of the Syrian problem, as well as the formulation of a policy of assimilation of refugees, seem to be more effective ways to solve the problem. Germany should focus on strengthening its multilateral relations mainly with its traditional partners, i.e. with the United States and EU countries, while contacts with third countries can be made on the ground of multilateral international platforms to ensure the transparency of foreign policy. The introduction of new centers of power in international relations on the basis of existing rules of interaction and ensuring they comply with the international order may be one of the possible solutions to overcome differences with traditional partners. In addition, strengthening democratic institutions and transparency in foreign policy, developing public diplomacy, and clearly defining goals continue to be topical issues to maintain a positive reputation as key resources of “soft power.” Finally, it is necessary to reform the social insurance system and stimulate investment in human capital to address domestic problems that impede economic growth and the potential for soft power of Germany.
Conclusion
Thus, although the successful use of “soft power” policy has made Germany one of the leading countries in the world, today this policy faces several problems. The new challenges are the European crisis of thought, which has led to an increase in the centripetal tendency, military conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, once again the return of “hard power”, the migration crisis, and the immigration and the growing influence of right-wing forces in Europe, the emergence of new centers of power. This country is constantly faced with the question of having to choose between preserving its reputation as a guarantor of peace and stability, which it has worked hard to achieve after the end of World War II and ensuring own economic growth. All of these facts require a revised approach to the implementation of Germany's “soft power” policy.
Pic Courtesy-Marius Serban at unsplash.com
(The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent views of CESCUBE.)
