EXPERTS: Michael Nowak, Policy Planning Staff of the Federal Foreign Office, and Dr. George Schulze Zumkley, Department for Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) in the Federal Foreign Office.
PRESENTING FELLOWS: Rachel Hoff (Defense Group); Juan Jose Pedrosa (Climate Change Group)
Click on photo to enlarge and start slideshow
Dr. Johannes Bohnen introduced the guests from the Federal Foreign Office
Rachel presented the Defense Memo’s key recommendations:
- Cybersecurity investment; to include a NATO component
- Burden-sharing metric to replace current 2% spending requirement
- Troop rotations on NATO’s eastern border to deter Russian aggression
Michael Nowak offered feedback for each point:
- One should focus on communications. Resilience is key; we need to be aware of outside influence and that it is a threat to our fabric
- There is support in Europe for a burden sharing metric; however, US support is questioned. This is a fair suggestion, however framing the pitch is important as many don’t want to be strong armed into such an agreement
- The German defense minister visited the Baltics; there is a lack of understanding as to why Russia is threatened by the troop rotations. Also, NATO needs to counter the Russian narrative head-on.
Dr. George Schulze Zumkley offered feedback for each point:
- Troop drawdowns have caused a shift in transatlantic relations. A new transatlantic narrative needs to be developed. The EU and NATO made a declaration in Warsaw (2016), which included a narrative on cyber security. Generally, awareness needs to be raised in member populations
- Burden-sharing was a key point discussed at the Munich Security Conference (MSC). NATO members were disappointed in the need for basic reassurances from US participants (VP Pence, SecDef Mattis)
- The current 2% spending goal was agreed to at the 2014 Wales conference; the German president envisioned 3% as the goal and pushed for development aid for stabilization to be included in the 2% measurement (Syria and Iraq accounted for much of this spending)
- NATO members need to do military planning together
- NATO may not always be appropriate for response. The EU needs to adopt an autonomous crisis management strategy. Republicans need to realize the strategic value of the EU
- A united EU is needed to meet global challenges
- A common EU defense policy was agreed to in 2003. 30K people are in the field supporting this policy/apparatus
General Q/A ensued:
- Question on whether security and development should be considered under a common defense strategy. Security and development go hand-in-hand
- Question on whether EU security resources compete with NATO. Building an EU force (crisis management) strengthens the EU pillar in NATO. A strong and united EU is better and in the US interest. Putin is looking to undermine the process and EU strength
Juan Jose presented the Climate Change memo’s key recommendations:
- Subnational cooperation
- Development aid networks for energy diversity
Schulze Zumkley offered feedback for each point:
- A fund for investment exists; the focus should be on local markets for solar energy
- Entrepreneurship is a driver for development. Carbon independence is key
Michael Nowak offered feedback for each point:
- LNG businesses drive infrastructure decisions
- From a security perspective, energy diversity is key
Michael Nowak: EU/NATO members need to think longer term in terms of climate refugees
Dr. Schulze Zumkley: Follow chain of refugees coming to Africa. For every 1 million Germans, there are 12 refugees. Libya needs to be stabilized; aid given to Niger.
