The manifesto of the “BSW—Für Vernunft und Gerechtigkeit e.V.” (or “BSW—For Reason and Justice”), Germany’s initiative headed by Sahra Wagenknecht, for the creation of a new leftwing political party, has a strong and much-needed formulation in its section, “For a New Self-Image in Foreign Policy":
“Our foreign policy is in the tradition of Chancellor Willy Brandt and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who opposed thinking and acting in the logic of the Cold War with a policy of détente, reconciliation of interests and international cooperation. We fundamentally reject the resolution of conflicts by military means. We oppose the fact that more and more resources are flowing into weapons and war equipment instead of into the education of our children, research into environmentally friendly technologies or our health and care facilities. Nuclear armament and escalating conflicts between nuclear powers put the survival of humanity at risk and must be ended. We seek a new era of détente and new treaties on disarmament and common security. The Bundeswehr has the task of defending our country. It must be adequately equipped for this task. We reject the deployment of German soldiers in international wars as well as their stationing on the Russian border or in the South China Sea.
“A military alliance whose leading power has invaded five countries in recent years in violation of international law and killed more than 1 million people in these wars stirs up feelings of threat and defensive reactions, thus contributing to global instability. Instead of an instrument of power for geopolitical goals, we need a defense alliance with a defensive orientation that respects the principles of the UN Charter, strives for disarmament instead of committing to rearmament, and in which members meet as equals. Europe needs a stable security architecture, which in the longer term should also include Russia.
“Our country deserves a self-confident policy that focuses on the well-being of its citizens and is driven by the realization that U.S. interests are sometimes very different from ours. Our goal is an independent Europe of sovereign democracies in a multipolar world, not a new bloc confrontation in which Europe is ground down between the U.S. and the increasingly assertive new power bloc around China and Russia.”
Reason and justice may yet see a revival.
