Press Release
Cambridge, MA- Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, during the Harvard Future of Diplomacy Project’s Europe Week series, gave a pragmatic view of the future of European security and Germany’s changing role in geopolitics during a seminar moderated by FDP Executive Director Cathryn Cluver.
In his opening remarks, Ischinger, who serves as chairman of the Munich Security Conference and was previously the German Ambassador to the UK and the United States, expressed concern over diminishing US leadership in Europe, under the Trump administration. Paraphrasing his late friend and colleague Richard Holbrooke, Ischinger described the United States as a “European power,” in terms of its traditional role in shaping the continent’s foreign and defense policy.
One of the most important facets of this leadership role, said the former ambassador, was the function of the United States as symbol for Western liberal values such as human rights and the rule of law. If the US chooses to cede this symbolic role, it will be left to Europe to take up the proverbial mantle of Western liberalism, he said, serving as a less iconic and less united defender of the post-WWII liberal world order.
Ischinger also addressed some of the more concrete issues facing Germany and Europe as a whole. Burden-sharing in NATO, Ischinger said, has been an issue since his days as a diplomat in Washington and Carter era. “The 2% resolution in Wales was correct,” he said, referring to a 2014 pledge by NATO member states to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense, a benchmark that has been reached by only five of the 28 members . However, Ischinger said that it was important that member states “claim ownership of the the 2% figure for their own good,” rather than viewing it as a mandate imposed by the United States. Ischinger suggested that a 3% goal that included expenditures on capacity-building and development would allow states to take ownership of the debate and prevent polarization of the issue along the left-right divide while also reflecting the increasingly interrelated nature of defense and development challenges. “Proper defense not only requires military capabilities, but comprehensive capabilities,” he said.
Ischinger then turned to the tense relationship between Europe, the United States, and Russia. He said that the Russian military was “the most dangerous military since the collapse of the Soviet Union," adding that "it should not be underestimated,” and suggested that diplomatic engagement was necessary to reduce tensions. “It would be a good strategy to resume the tradition of US-Russian summitry.” However, he said, “sequencing is important,” in the sense that any US engagement with Russia should be preceded by intense consultation between the US, the EU, and NATO.
Finally, Ischinger offered his views on Germany’s changing role in Europe as the continent faces new challenges and declining support from the United States. While his country is seen as a major shaper of EU policy and Chancellor Angela Merkel has been hailed as the new leader of the free world by some, “Germany as the leader of the EU is a very, very bad idea,” said Ischinger. While the country has the largest European economy, “it is important that this economic base is used for the EU,” said Ischinger. The challenges facing the Union, he said, such as defense integration and the probable transition to a so-called “two-speed” Europe, could not be resolved if Germany were to dictate policy alone, and instead require a unified approach led by a strong coalition of leaders from Germany, France, and other nations.
In closing, Ischinger said that reforming the EU to allow for truly cohesive security and defense policy could be the transformation needed to save the Union, which has so far “failed to be a provider of security for its citizens,” he said. “Tiny incremental steps to drive the EU forward are probably not good enough. I think we need ambitious and visible and courageous steps …[to] revive the very idea of the European Project at a time when it is torn apart by centrifugal forces, and even [questioned by] the United States.”