“We don't want a new arms race”

Article by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung

March 18, 2007

Climate protection, scarcity of raw materials, terrorism - the age of globalization is presenting us with a host of unresolved challenges for the future. For some people, the debate on a new missile defense system in Europe therefore seems to bring back memories of the bygone era of the Cold War. And some people are wondering whether we are seeing a return to the times when bloc confrontation and missile counting between the United States and Russia were the norm.

I say that the Cold War is over, once and for all! And few nations have derived such benefit from this as we Germans. But not everyone has really accepted the consequences of this about-turn in contemporary history. Many Germans sometimes find it difficult to embrace every aspect of our increased international responsibility. Following the decline of the Soviet Union and the loss of its status as a world power, Russia is searching for a new role. And the sole remaining superpower, America, is realizing that military superiority alone can bring about neither friendship nor peace.

In the 21st century, when humanity is building closer networks than ever before, international security can only be achieved if we join forces. To the degree that the world is growing together, our common vulnerability is increasing. Lasting peace in the age of globalization is no longer based on military deterrence, but rather depends on the readiness to cooperate and overcome political, cultural and religious divisions.

That is easier said than done. The dispute surrounding the planned deployment of an American missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic shows how old attitudes from the time of the Cold War still live on today. In Moscow many people are under the impression that the United States is taking excessive advantage of its superiority. In Washington, many people still do not trust the Russian bear an inch even 18 years after the fall of the Wall. And in Poland, the trauma inflicted by the German and Russian partitions of the country still pervades political thought and action today.

Cooperation has to be learned and trained. Wholehearted promotion and support of this tenet is the most important task for German and European foreign policy. The discussion about the planned American missile defense system is strategically significant. It is testing our willingness to engage in honest cooperation. It will show whether we are capable of overcoming outdated patterns of thinking rooted in opposition and confrontation. It is important to remain calm and earnest and not to become caught up in emotionality. We have to ask the right questions and weigh up all the consequences.

First, the United States believes that it is entitled to protect itself from Iranian long-range missiles. That is a legitimate concern, even if such weapons do not yet exist. However, the price of security must not be new suspicion or, worse still, fresh insecurity.

Second, we cannot allow a missile defense system to be either a reason or a pretext for a new arms race. No military defense system, however sophisticated it may be, can guarantee 100-percent protection. Our top priority therefore remains disarmament, not rearmament. We don't want a new arms race in Europe! And I don't believe anyone wants to call into question the carefully balanced network of disarmament and arms control agreements. Our goal must be to preserve and strengthen this system.

Third, neither NATO nor the EU can afford to allow the necessary open debate to divide them. There is no "old" and "new" Europe, and no one should try to sow such seeds of discord for short-term gains. Europe's security is indivisible. We increasingly want to take it into our own hands, without weakening the historic transatlantic defense alliance.

Fourth, we have to strive to make Iran accept its international responsibility. I have been working hard to achieve this since my first day as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Without the willingness to engage in comprehensive cooperation, which, incidentally, has to come from both sides, this cannot succeed. Iran is a country with enormous development potential and a population much younger than average. I would like to see an Iran that invests in laptops for its girls and boys instead of in long-range missiles. I urgently appeal to the leadership in Tehran to turn their back on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, and to do so in a way that can be verified! That will give all parties confidence and security.

We should use these principles as a basis on which to discuss the pros and cons of a missile defense system in Europe. NATO would provide the appropriate setting for such discussion. German foreign policy can and will contribute the fruits of decades of experience with détente and disarmament policy to this debate. The goal of the debate must be to find a common solution which does not provoke anyone. This will enable trust to grow and the legacy of Cold War logic to fade.

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