-
I guess what I was driving at is that politically, Germany has less pressure to enter conflicts.
It's not only about pressure. Germany has very restrictive constitutional (well, it doesn't have a constitution, but that's a different story) provisions against entering conflict. There has been a slippery slope in which this has been changed since the 1990s, but it's still substantially in place.
If you think about the flack France gets, internationally everyone is a lot more sensitive in relation to Germany and there isn't the same domestic pressure.
There is obviously the historical background. However, there has been quite a lot of pressure placed on Germany in the recent past because its defence spending is relatively lower than that of other NATO countries.
What the map on page 4 doesn't show is that Germany has the largest population of any country in Europe, at about 80 million, and is apparently now accepting up to a million Syrian refugees.
I don't know much about Italy, but it is interesting that it appears to have a similar level of spending to Germany. Perhaps this is likewise quite low because of its history of alliance with Nazi Germany.
You are reading a single comment by @Oliver Schick and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
Oliver Schick
hugo7
Fair enough you're right.
I guess what I was driving at is that politically, Germany has less pressure to enter conflicts.
If you think about the flack France gets, internationally everyone is a lot more sensitive in relation to Germany and there isn't the same domestic* pressure.
*or from the little I know there doesn't appear to be the same domestic pressure.