On the Periodisation of the German Involvement in the Settlement of Armed Conflicts in the Post-Soviet Space

Abstract

Currently, Germany is demonstrating its ambition to establish itself as a full-fledged global player. German strategic intrusion into the post-Soviet space in the form of participation in the settlement of armed conflicts is a factor contributing to the fulfilment of this ambition. The article proposes a periodisation for this aspect of German foreign policy. Both the evolution of tactics for using political and diplomatic tools in a given territory and the expansion of the composition of regional players are demonstrated for each period. The author focuses on the evolution of the German approach to the resolution of armed conflicts in the region (Georgian-Abkhaz, Georgian-South Ossetian, Transnistrian, and in the east of Ukraine). The German approach to the regulation of armed conflicts in the region has had two components. The first component is federalization as a way to eliminate local contradictions: Germany provided support to the central authorities of the former Soviet republic, often not taking into account the interests of the separatist party. The second component is German attempts to ensure that the parties to the conflict sign and implement the Association Agreement with the EU. This dramatically complicated the settlement process, creating a high probability of its degradation and leading, sometimes, to the resumption of discontinued armed clashes. The paper pays close attention to the German position on the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests and the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.