German Military Propaganda War

« German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is using the media to get the German public behind the army.
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The German military moves to get the public on its side. By Ron Fraser

 

When German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg took office, he soon publicized a two-pronged agenda to revolutionize postwar German thinking regarding its military forces.

On the one hand he promised a complete overhaul of Germany’s Bundeswehr, and on the other, the need to mount initiatives to change the public’s attitude toward the military.

In pursuit of the first goal, Guttenberg had within short time used the Kunduz affair as the opportunity to remove some unwanted senior defense and military personnel and then moved on to eliminate conscription as the prime means of maintaining personnel strength.

Britain at Odds With Europe Over Ban on Selling Arms to China

« British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) talks with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. Britain and the EU are divided over resuming arms sales to China.
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Britain is clashing with the European Union as Europe edges toward repealing the EU’s ban on selling military technology to China.

 

If European nations can sell weapons to Russia, as France did in December with a €1 billion assault ship deal, then why not to China’s army too? This is the question a growing number of European Union policymakers are asking as Beijing’s influence with EU member states increases.

The issue is significant because the EU banned weapons technology sales to China in 1989, after Beijing’s violent crackdown on dissidents in Tiananmen Square. But with China’s investments helping to prop up several European states, a growing number of continental EU countries want to reconsider the embargo. And on January 27, China urged the EU to lift the ban in order to boost EU-China relations.

Alexander Neill of the Royal United Services Institute said, “EU member states certainly feel pressured by China given the economic contagion which seems to be spreading through the EU at the moment. Many national leaders, I am sure, will think twice about how they engage the Chinese on investment, which is essentially bailing them out of elements of their economic doldrums.”

Last month, an unnamed EU official told reporters that the nations opposed to the embargo had gathered enough momentum to kill the ban by the end of the year.

But Britain, in spite of having accepted some Chinese investments, remains alongside the U.S. in commitment to the restriction, and is isolating itself from Europe to a degree over the issue.

“The UK’s position remains exactly as it has been over the last few years, which is now is not the right time to lift the ban,” Neill said.

Despite Britain’s concerns, in the short term EU-China relations will improve as the two sides work toward counterbalancing American dominance and replacing the current U.S.-dominated global economic framework with a multipolar model.

The Chinafication of Asia

« China is making its presence known throughout Asia.
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Beijing is not satisfied with the status quo and is maneuvering to expand its reach, especially in Asia. By Jeremiah Jacques

 

“Anybody who ignores China would have to reexamine his head,” said the Philippines Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile last month. And a growing number of Asian policymakers are demonstrating that they agree with Enrile.

Wielding the twin forces of soft-power diplomacy and intimidating military growth, Beijing is rapidly expanding China’s reach throughout Asia. Viewed individually, the gains China has made don’t appear terribly significant, but, when analyzed together, they paint a sobering picture of a rapidly rising Chinese powerhouse and of a dramatic shift in Asia’s balance of power.

China’s “String of Pearls”

France Wants Germany to Join the Anglo-French Expeditionary Force

« French Defense Minister Alain Juppe is “determined” to include Germany in Anglo-French military cooperation.
(Boris Horvat/AFP/Getty Images)

 

The French have expressed a desire to forge a military partnership in which France, Britain and Germany would share both troops and equipment.

Guttenberg Comes Out Swinging

« German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
(Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images)

Germany’s defense minister, under attack by political opponents, rises to the occasion.  

By Ron Fraser

 

In the face of a concerted well-timed attack on his political persona, Germany’s Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg swung into aggressive defensive mode last week.

“Frankish firs do not fall down” was his rejoinder to the concerted effort by a primarily Free Democratic Party (fdp) and Social Democratic Party effort to blacken his name in the run-up to important state elections in Germany (Bild, January 23). The allusion was to the young aristocrat’s long family heritage of unyielding resistance in the face of battle. It is such charismatic confidence that endears Guttenberg to the German public, while at the same time causing his political enemies such frustration in their efforts to blacken his name.

As the German daily Bild commented, Guttenberg’s use of the “Frankish fir” analogy was a message delivered pointedly to both his “critics and competitors in Berlin” in the wake of their latest attempt to bring him down (ibid.).

Bild also quoted Guttenberg as stating, “I have asked the inspector general to undertake a review of all branches of the armed forces, whether there has been in recent years or even now indications of the engagement in rituals which are not in agreement with the principles of the Bundeswehr and I will quickly point out the consequences which must result from such.

Timely Attacks on Guttenberg

« German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg faces political attacks in the lead up to elections.
(Rainer Jensen/AFP/Getty Images)

Predictably, a rash of items has hit the press stimulated by enemies of Germany’s defense minister on the eve of important state elections in February and March. By Ron Fraser

 

It’s like a rerun of the Kunduz affair. As Germany approaches important elections that could result in changes in its state governments impacting heavily on the makeup of its federal coalition government, the enemies of Germany’s most popular politician are seeking to blacken his name.

China’s Military Advancements Surpass Western Expectations

« Chinese soldiers walk past a Chinese flag in Shanghai.
(Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)

The Middle Kingdom’s historic rise continues. 

By Jeremiah Jacques

With increasing consistency, China’s People’s Liberation Army (pla) is surpassing the expectations of Western experts by its rapid developments and capability. The trend speaks both to China’s mushrooming military might and to the West’s lack of vision and naïveté.

Washington officials thought China would not develop an operational stealth fighter jet before 2020. But when U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Beijing last week, the pla conducted a test flight of its new fifth-generation “J-20″ stealth fighter jet. The day before his trip to Beijing, Gates expressed concern about the Chinese military, saying, “They clearly have potential to put some of our capabilities at risk, and we have to pay attention to them ….” The test flight of the J-20 during Gates’s visit lends credence to his forewarning.

U.S. and Germany Cooperate on Spy Satellite

 

U.S. helps Germany add to its “already impressive suite of space-based radar.”

China Enters 2011 With a High Hand

China is outmaneuvering the U.S. and UK on the geopolitical chessboard. Here are a few of its recent moves.

Japan Deserting Its Postwar Pacifism?

« A Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces’ helicopter flies beside Japanese destroyer Shirane during “Keen Sword,” a U.S.-Japan military exercise in the Pacific Ocean, on December 10.
(TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images)

Japan’s National Defense Policy Guidelines, due to be unveiled this month, signal a historic refocusing of the nation’s army.

Germany’s Three-Card Trick

In the space of just one week, Germany has played three aces in its drive for dominance in Europe.

Guttenberg Promotes Military Cooperation in Europe

« German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg promoted greater EU military cooperation at a meeting of EU defense ministers on December 9.
(John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images)

German troops are back in France.