– Abstract
Ever since Germany has been reunified, it has gone through deep changes in its policy concerning defence and the use of force. The Bundeswehr has forgone a strictly defensive pattern so as to adjust to new operational necessities, particularly in the case of projection. This change has proved necessary for the pursuit of an active participation to NATO, UN and EU actions in which Germany is involved. The new army, which can act outside of the national territory, is plagued with chronic under-funding and more particularly the lack of definition of its aims and attributes. The institutional complexity of the armed forces recruiting system for foreign operations and the necessity of moral justification to their interventions must also be mentioned. The new 2006 White Paper did not succeed in clarifying the army’s objectives, as it suffers from the German politicians and population’s disinterest for international subjects.
