Why didn't Germany participate in the attack on Syria by the United States, Britain and France?

/kloc-in the early morning of April, the United States, Britain and France carried out a precise strike against Syrian military targets on the grounds that the Syrian Assad government was suspected of using chemical weapons. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the day before the United States, Britain and France used force that she would not take part in military actions against Syria and supported the settlement of disputes through diplomatic channels.

Immediately after the air strikes by the United States, Britain and France against Syria, Merkel said that the air strikes "are aimed at destroying the chemical weapons of the Assad government and preventing the Assad government from violating the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is the embodiment of the responsibility of the United States, Britain and France as permanent members of the UN Security Council", so it is "necessary and appropriate" to evaluate the attack. German Foreign Minister Maas (Social Democratic Party) and Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) also affirmed the correctness of attacking Bashar's chemical weapons at the first time, and accused Russia of obstructing the UN Security Council's investigation of Syrian chemical weapons.

In this sudden incident, Germany continued the "restraint culture" inherent in its foreign policy and remained reserved and cautious about foreign military actions; However, expressing moral support for allies' actions has avoided saying "no" to allies in the Iraq war and Libya's actions and falling into a situation of alienation from the United States and even the whole western camp.

Faced with the chaotic situation in Syria for many years, Germany, like those countries trying to "share a piece of cake", has no long-term strategy to deal with the complicated situation. However, since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Germany's policy towards Syria has continued to be driven by internal factors, including domestic public opinion, while striving to maintain a dynamic balance between "doing something" and "culture of restraint".

Merkel and Macron. Vision china information

Parliament said "no"

First of all, although German political parties have different attitudes towards how to deal with the Syrian crisis, they do not advocate military action. In response to this action, the German opposition Left Party and the German Choice Party directly pointed their finger at the United States, arguing that retaliation without clear evidence that Syrian government forces used chemical weapons was a violation of human rights. In the face of escalating military conflicts, the Left Party hopes that Russia can be more rational than Washington, London and Paris to avoid further deterioration of the situation. The German Choice Party accused Merkel of perfunctory handling of the crisis and believed that Germany should keep in touch with the Russian and Assad governments on the Syrian issue at the same time. Another opposition party, the Green Party, thinks that Germany should take the initiative to push EU member states to reach an agreement and respond accordingly. The LDP emphasizes the necessity of maintaining dialogue with Russia and Turkey.

The extraterritorial actions of the German Bundeswehr require parliamentary authorization. As can be seen from the above, Germany's participation in Syrian military operations has no parliamentary majority support. Moreover, the voice of the people in Germany calling for peace and opposing military conflict is still the mainstream. As early as 2065438+April 2007, when the United States launched a military strike on the grounds that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack, the vast majority of Germans were opposed. Therefore, it is still a safe and "low-cost" practice for the new German government, which has just had a "full moon", to continue to express its support verbally without taking part in the action as before when all parties and domestic public opinion do not support the use of force against Syria.

On August 8, 2065438+07165438+/KLOC-0, local time, several Syrian refugees held a rally in front of the German Embassy in Greece, demanding to go to Germany to reunite with their families. Vision china information

The burden of refugees

Second, influenced by the refugee crisis, Germany believes that the urgent task of the Syrian crisis is to eliminate the local "Islamic State" terrorist forces and avoid causing more displaced refugees. After the refugee crisis broke out in 20 15, more than one million Syrian refugees poured into Germany. With the frequent terrorist attacks and criminal incidents caused by immigrants with extremist background in recent years, right-wing populist parties against immigrants and the European Union are growing stronger in the growing xenophobia. The acceptance and integration of refugees has become a key topic related to social security, stability and EU integration in Germany, especially in the German federal election last year.

The influence of the refugee crisis on German society has changed Germany's feelings towards Islamic countries at the beginning of the Arab Spring. The complex feelings of sympathy and fear for refugees exceed the sense of superiority and mission that once wanted to promote the "democratic transformation" of Islamic countries. Therefore, any action that cannot bring peace and tranquility to Syria means that more refugees will embark on the road to Europe, and it also means that the refugee repatriation policy will be more difficult to implement. Therefore, the US-Russia struggle for geopolitical influence in Syria is not attractive to Germany, and Germany will not be as eager as France to show its great power posture in this military action.

Policy orientation

Thirdly, looking at Germany's Syria policy after the Arab Spring, we can find that Germany insists on coordinating the crisis by soft means such as political dialogue and economic sanctions within the framework of the foreign and security policies of the United Nations and the European Union. 20 13 After the chemical weapons crisis broke out in Syria in September, Germany's position changed from supporting the opposition to overthrow the Assad regime to seeking to maintain dialogue with the Assad regime. However, no matter what the policy orientation, Germany maintains a restrained position and opposes military intervention in the Syrian civil war by western countries. Even after the 20 15 terrorist attack in Paris, France, and under the background that France triggered the mutual assistance clause of the Lisbon Treaty for the first time, the German Federal Parliament approved the German Federal Defence Force to send 1200 officers and men to provide logistics, intelligence and escort support for the French military attack on the "Islamic State" on February 4, 20 15, and actively provided support to the Kurds.

It can be seen that Germany tries its best to be rational, moderate and moderate in its Syrian policy and avoid being directly involved in the conflict. In the coalition agreement of the new German government, the first sentence of the foreign policy chapter emphasizes that Germany's foreign policy aims at achieving peace. Although it also points out that the Bundeswehr is an indispensable part of Germany's security policy, it clearly emphasizes that Germany still pays attention to solving international crises and conflicts through diplomacy, dialogue, cooperation and development assistance.

Germany's "restraint" and "smoothness" in this Syrian military operation are in stark contrast to France's initiative. After the uncertain 20 17, Germany and France have repeatedly stressed the need to maintain the unity and stability of the EU, especially to promote the development of EU security and defense under the background that the transatlantic partnership is no longer reliable. Under the impetus of Germany and France, the 25 EU countries signed the Defense Agreement on Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) on February 20 17, which took a solid step towards the European defense alliance. However, the different performances of Germany and France in this military attack on Syria show that the strategic and cultural differences between the two countries have not changed substantially, which is also a major obstacle to the future development of EU defense.