Suchergebnisse

Bernhard Blumenau presents a thorough examination of West Germany's encounter with domestic and international terrorism in the 1970s and how the country contributed to and eventually led the international battle against terrorism at the United Nations. A study of German foreign policy but also the story of how the UN addressed terrorism in a decade that was strongly marked by this phenomenon, it provides an in-depth archival study of the German motivations for finding an international response to terrorism and the policies Germany pursued in order to achieve this at the UN. Germany's policies were driven by the sheer need for cooperation, but above all by a desire for global influence. "The United Nations and Terrorism" provides detailed accounts of terrorist crises involving the kidnapping and murder of diplomats, the attack on the Munich Olympics, the OPEC siege, and two aircraft hijackings to Entebbe and Mogadishu.

Abstract
On 27 February 2022, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addressed the Bundestag and announced a watershed moment (Zeitenwende) for Germany's conduct of foreign affairs. Against the backdrop of the historical pillars of German foreign policy, this article reviews the core implications of the Zeitenwende doctrine. It analyses how the new policy continued or transformed traditional notions underpinning Germany's external relations: Westbindung (integration into the West) and European integration, multilateralism, the pursuit of a rules-based international order and NATO membership, hesitant leadership, Ostpolitik and Wandel durch Handel (transformation through trade), as well as a foreign policy not relying on military means. It argues that Zeitenwende represented a break with some traditional notions, such as Ostpolitik and Wandel durch Handel, and to some extent the non-military foreign policy. However, Zeitenwende also reconfirmed other traditions: Westbindung, a commitment to multilateralism and the rules-based order, as well as the reluctance to assert German leadership. With Zeitenwende, Germany remained firmly committed to the EU and NATO as the country acknowledged that it must do more for its own, and for Europe's, security. Zeitenwende represented Germany's coming to terms with, and final acceptance of, the realities of the post-Cold War European order.

The article looks at the Group of 7 (G7) efforts to fight international terrorism in the 1970s and early 1980s. It examines the G7 statement against hijacking, the Bonn Declaration of 1978, and assesses how the G7 dealt with it after the adoption of the Declaration. The article illustrates that after a short phase of enthusiasm just after the Declaration's adoption, the G7 members' united front against terrorism quickly eroded. The G7 failed to secure support from other countries and realized the economic and political costs that the implementation of the Declaration could produce. Therefore, it was pushed to the backburner. The Declaration was largely of symbolic and only of very little practical importance. Yet, it still pointed to the new approach of the G7 – present until today – that moved away from a purely economic agenda towards a progressively more political one.

The 1970s are often associated with East-West détente, talks about the limitation of nuclear and conventional forces, the emergence of the Third World as an increasingly important factor in international relations, and the subsequent erosion of détente and deepening of East-West hostility. However, the 1970s were also a high-water mark of international terrorism—particularly terrorism emanating from the Middle East—and this threat generated action on the part of the leading Western countries. The United Nations (UN) could have been an important forum in which to address this threat and develop responses, but the UN was paralyzed by the differences not only between the Western countries and the Soviet bloc but also between the West and the Third World. The definition of "terrorism" was a particular bone of contention. Nevertheless, despite this inauspicious environment, some achievements proved feasible because of a changing international context that was increasingly hostile to terrorism and the persistence and diplomatic skills of some Western countries, notably West Germany.

The 1970s are often associated with East-West detente, talks about the limitation of nuclear and conventional forces, the emergence of the Third World as an increasingly important factor in international relations, and the subsequent erosion of detente and deepening of East-West hostility. However, the 1970s were also a high-water mark of international terrorism -- particularly terrorism emanating from the Middle East -- and this threat generated action on the part of the leading Western countries. The United Nations (UN) could have been an important forum in which to address this threat and develop responses, but the UN was paralyzed by the differences not only between the Western countries and the Soviet bloc but also between the West and the Third World. The definition of 'terrorism' was a particular bone of contention. Nevertheless, despite this inauspicious environment, some achievements proved feasible because of a changing international context that was increasingly hostile to terrorism and the persistence and diplomatic skills of some Western countries, notably West Germany. Adapted from the source document.