Trunov Philipp Olegovich – Ph.D. in Political Sciences, Leading Researcher, INION RAS
The importance of the military power factor in global political processes has been growing since the mid-2010s, which is reflected in the domestic agenda of the states of the world. This factor is of particular importance for Germany, which has not yet completed its assertion as a full-fledged global actor. It is for this reason that, being especially sensitive to the ongoing shifts in the global political landscape, Germany has again chosen the way of remilitarization to increase its international subjectivity. The article examines the role of the CDU/CSU bloc in strengthening the military power of the FRG and changing the forms of its usage. The continuity of the approach of the Christian Democrats from K. Adenauer to G. Kohl and further to A. Merkel in the development of the country’s armed forces is analyzed. During the long period (2005–2021) when the CDU/CSU bloc was in power, the tendency to reduce all parameters of the FRG military power while ensuring the geographically wide presence of the Bundeswehr on the world stage was reversed (since the mid-2010s). The article notes the drift of the initially much more left (partly pacifist) position of the SPD on the issues under study towards an approach more characteristic of the CDU/CSU bloc. This process, fraught with the risk of a further decrease in the electoral support of the CDU/CSU, is of particular concern to the Christian Democrats after the Olaf Scholz’s cabinet came to power, expressing readiness for a tougher confrontation with the Russian Federation. The CDU/CSU bloc faces the necessity to find non-trivial solutions in response to this both internal and external political challenge.
FRG, Christian Democrats, remilitarization, the Bundeswehr, strategic presence, confrontation, challenges for electoral support.
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