Diplomacy & Crisis News

(Own report) - Techniques of anti-Soviet propaganda that had been developed by Nazi officers, could serve today as a model for western anti-Russia psychological warfare operations, according to a semi-official publication from the entourage of the Bundeswehr. The current conflict between Russia and NATO has a "highly pronounced ideological dimension," analogue to the Cold War, explains the author Uwe Hartmann, a colonel in the German armed forces. According to Hartmann, the Russian side is using the "freedoms of Western open societies" to "influence" public opinion with the aim of "relativizing the value of rights and freedoms," "sowing discord" and "insecurity within the population." To counter this strategy, attributed to Russia, Hartmann recommends reversion to the methods of the so-called 'internal leadership' concept elaborated by Wolf Graf von Baudissin, who had been on Hitler's General Staff. This concept calls for preparing the armed forces as well as the society at large for a "permanent civil war" and for the leadership elite to convince Germans of the "worthiness of defending their country," while immunizing them against all "ideological temptations" and "propaganda attacks."

(Own report) - The leading foreign policy journal of Germany is debating NATO's utility. Today, the utility of the Alliance is "unclear," according to the latest edition of "Internationale Politik." Countries in Europe and North America could solve their "security" problems without NATO, whereas - this should be conceded - NATO has done great damage to relations with Russia. In light of the EU's military policy, Washington should encourage the EU to "defend itself," says the author, an expert in an influential US think tank. While "Internationale Politik" is raising fundamental questions, NATO is opening a debate on a new "southern strategy." Since Russia is expanding its naval presence in the Mediterranean and establishing new military bases in Syria, the Mediterranean "is a contested space," according to NATO circles. The deployment of drones in Sicily has been announced, along with plans to intensify cooperation with the countries of the region. "Advisers" are already active in Tunisia, Jordan and Iraq and should also be sent to Libya as soon as possible. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has announced that the debate will be continued at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers, scheduled for early December.

(Own report) - With a special "team" the EU is seeking to create a pro-western media audience in the East European countries and the Caucasus - including Russia - as was confirmed by the German government in its response to a parliamentary interpellation. The EU's "East StratCom Team" seeks to establish networks with journalists in the countries of the EU's "Eastern Partnerships," and in Russia. It is also developing "communication campaigns" systematically aimed at the populations of these countries. "Young people" and academics are among the specially targeted audiences. Overall, the EU team is focusing on the urban middle classes, which, in large sectors of Eastern Europe are pro-western oriented and had significantly supported Ukraine's Maidan protests. Asked about the orientation of these activities, officially labeled as "support for media freedom," the German government has explained that the purpose is to "communicate" one's own position to the public, like the PR-work of governments, parties, and associations. The government has also confirmed that the EU team will examine the East European activities of Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, for possible "synergy effects."

(Own report) - At the upcoming EU summit on refugees in Malta's capital Valletta, Germany will seek to reinforce the border and deportation management aimed at thwarting migration from Africa. According to the German government, the "fight against migrant smuggling and trafficking" as well as the enforcement of the refugees' "return and readmission" by the participating African countries will be central issues to be discussed at next week's summit of EU and African heads of states and governments. Particular emphasis will be placed on "supporting" Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Mali and Niger with "police cooperation" to "monitor and control" their borders and the most important routes of migration. EU "liaison officials" should be dispatched to the "relevant African countries" to collect "information on the migration flow" in cooperation with the local repression administrations. "Multifunctional centers" are to be established in Niger and other African countries to demonstrate the "risks of irregular migration" to refugees. In return for stemming the flow of migration and "readmitting" illegal migrants, the African countries of origin and transit will be promised "enhanced" cooperation "on economic, foreign, and development policy issues."

(Own report) - Disputes over US military provocations are accompanying the German chancellor's current visit to China. After a US Navy destroyer transited through the maritime waters claimed by Beijing near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the Chinese government summoned the US ambassador. German government sources have confirmed that this conflict will play a role in the talks, Angela Merkel will hold today in Beijing, and expect discord. Berlin is already in a difficult position. The transformation of China's economy from an investment-driven to a consumer- and service-driven growth model will be of disadvantage to the German industry. "German capital goods and automobiles" will most likely "no longer enjoy the same levels of demand growth in China as previously," according to Sebastian Heilmann, Director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin. Because of the structural transformation of China's economy, the "country’s demand for access to finance and currency markets, as well as general demand for service-related know-how" has increased massively. In this respect, Great Britain "is much better positioned than Germany." A "strategic shift is taking place in European-Chinese relations" - away from Berlin and towards London.

(Own report) - Berlin has announced a "German-Russian Youth Year" for 2016/2017. As former Head of the Federal Chancellery Ronald Pofalla (CDU) declared last week at the conclusion of a German-Russian Cooperation Meeting ("Petersburg Dialogue"), cooperation between German and Russian civil societies are "more important than ever." Therefore, the German government's efforts to intensify the German-Russian student exchange program must be supported. Already at the beginning of the Petersburg Dialogue, which has restarted, following a year's interruption, Chancellor Merkel explained that Germany is "interested in a reliable partnership with Russia." Business functionaries are concluding that willingness to cooperate, which had waned due to the Ukraine conflict, is again growing "on both sides." Wolfgang Ischinger, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, foresees a "diplomatic process" under Berlin's leadership that will lead to a further rapprochement during Germany's OSCE chair - beginning January 1, 2016. Ischinger explicitly points to similarities to the cold war's so-called détente policy, from which the West emerged the winner.

(Own report) - The EU's Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Cameroon, soon to be implemented, will drive this African country deeper into poverty, Yvonne Takang, Executive Secretary of the Cameroonian civic organization ACDIC explained in an interview with german-foreign-policy.com. The Economic Partnership Agreement, ratified under pressure from Brussels last year in a hush-hush operation, will endanger Cameroon's "agriculture and regional integration," warned Takang, and hamper the country's industrialization. She also signaled resistance to the agreement's implementation. Since 2002, the EU has been seeking to conclude EPAs with former European colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions to open markets for European businesses, create attractive investment opportunities, and secure imports of cheap raw materials. The planned deregulation will leave the weaker national economies in Africa unprotected. A well known example of the negative consequences is the local chicken production in Ghana, which virtually collapsed after this West African country opened its markets to European - including German - poultry exports. German slaughterhouses, on the other hand, benefitted, significantly increasing their chicken exports and profits.

(Own report) - The German Bundeswehr is holding another exercise oriented on "Civil-Military Cooperation" (CIMIC) in the context of military interventions. The "Joint Cooperation" exercise will take place in Nienburg County (Lower Saxony) at the end of the month primarily with the participation of soldiers from NATO member countries, and with troops from countries, officially claiming neutrality, such as Austria and Sweden. According to the scenario of the exercise, which has been drawn up in all details, so-called CIMIC forces will operate in a fictitious country at the Horn of Africa that has become the scene of a bloody civil war provoked by a neighboring nation. The unit specialized in "civil-military cooperation" must "assess" the war zone population's situation, to provide the military command the "necessary information" for its "operational planning." The scenario shows a number of parallels to NATO's current large-scale "Trident Juncture" exercise, which also focuses on combating an "aggressor nation," covertly supporting one party to the civil war in the neighboring country. Reference to the situation in Ukraine is explicitly desired.