Germany and NATO – an Uneasy Relationship

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NATO has been a central pillar for Germany’s security system for more than sixty years now. Yet, Germany’s reunification has reduced its role and led to question the future of the Organisation and its missions, as well as Germany’s position within this collective security structure. The German public opinion, usually hostile to any kind of foreign military intervention, questions NATO as its necessity is perceived to be increasingly diminishing for German security in a peaceful European context. The wide disapproval of the war of Iraq has undermined transatlantic relations. Thus, the future commitment of the Bundeswehr – who, scarcely supported by the population, and undergoing a thorough and complete change in the Afghan conflict, is the focal point for German public criticism – will prove decisive for future relations between NATO and Germany.