Source: Deutsche Welle
Speaking to Deutsche Welle’s Quadriga, Judy Dempsey discussed the German public’s low appetite for warfare, which in turn partly explains the relative poor state of the German military forces. However, Dempsey argued that this was a problem not only for Germany, and that demilitarization had also been witnessed in France, the UK, and the Netherlands over the last few years, demonstrating that there was clearly a “war weariness after Iraq, after Afghanistan, and after the botched mission in Libya.”Dempsey explained that even though public opinion in Germany might be opposed to war, the country’s political elite is now choosing to go against it and rethink the world order’s “predictability.” She also recommended that German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and her advisers should not let the issue of the present state of the German army disappear, but should make the subject accessible and widen the debate.