THE CONCEPT OF SECURITY IN GERMAN FOREIGN POLICY

Abstract

The Ukrainian crisis escalation in February 2022 became an impetus for securitizing German foreign and domestic policies. An appeal to the notion of security is present in most significant discussions on the state development. Germany’s national security strategy securitized all major spheres of life in German society, making security a universal and comprehensive concept. This is also reflected in other guiding documents, such as the White Paper of the Bundeswehr, the Guiding Principles of Feminist Foreign Policy, the Cybersecurity Strategy. The «change of eras» concept announced by Olaf Scholz updated the security debate by addressing traditional military threats, launching a general revision of the security concept in German politics. Consequently, the boundaries of use of the security concept have expanded, making it commonly used by all participants of domestic political debates and, at the same time, significantly relativizing it. An illustrative example is the migration crisis, where both supporters and opponents of Berlin’s liberal migration policy appeal to German security interests. The further development of the security concept in German foreign policy will be determined by the development of the party-political system of the country, Berlin’s role in key international crises (Ukrainian conflict, Palestinian-Israeli conflict), and processes within German society.