Welcome
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Since the end of the Cold War the purpose of security policy has often been questioned in Germany. Particularly, a threat free scenario and hence the pocketing of the peace dividend appeared to be admissable in light of the stable security environment encompassing Germany which is characterized by good relations maintained to neighbor states – all of which are democracies.
A number of occurrences in recent years have accented the awareness that a multitude of novel security challenges also pertain to Germany. Among these occurrences are the occupation and later liberation of Kuwait, the wars in former Yugoslawia, the persistence of violent conflicts in numerous regions of the world, the increasing proliferation of arms of mass destruction and rockets, the terrorist strikes in the USA, Madrid and London and last but not least the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In light of the complexity of these security challenges and the rising responsibility Germany has assumed as an international actor in recent years a reliable scientific analysis of such problems has become an absolute necessity. |