The Contemporary German Navy as an Instrument of Foreign Policy

Since the Cold War and beyond the Zeitenwende, Germany has increasingly come to rely on its navy as an instrument of foreign policy. The German Navy supports comprehensive maritime security and ocean governance, and its missions not only reflect its own evolution, but also change within Germany. This is a marked shift for the ‘continental power’ Germany and forms a substantial component of its much broader ‘maritime turn’ in the 21st century. Changes in strategic context, new security challenges and Germany’s evolving international role after reunification have altered the perception of the navy’s utility. Its share in the Bundeswehr’s personnel has grown and the navy has seen proportionally higher investment – or relatively less cuts owing to the post-Cold War 'peace dividend' – than either army or airforce. The author shows, that the navy has markedly changed and become increasingly useful for Germany’s foreign policy – something which, in the stormy seas of geopolitical escalation of the Zeitenwende, has already paid dividends.

Dr. Moritz Brake is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Security, Strategic and Integration Studies (CASSIS) at the University of Bonn. He is also Managing Director and Co-Founder of a company focusing on leveraging innovative technology for maritime security, as well as an officer in the reserve of the German Navy with over 21 years of active service experience - including in deployments in the UN mission UNIFIL and EU mission ATALANTA.