Germany and its Military Involvement in the Kosovo Crisis: The End of Civilian Power?

The concept of civilian power assumes that a civilizing process takes place in international relations. This process is typical of the development of the formulation and implementation of universally binding principles which regulate relations among states, establish a monopoly on the legitimate use of force on the international level, try to minimize violence, promote the development of democratic political structures of participation and attempt to reduce economic and social differences. Germany is thought to be one of two typical civilian powers (the other one is Japan). German participation in the NATO 1999 war against Yugoslavia cannot be simply interpreted as the end of German policy based on the civilian power concept because many features of civilian power were present in the German foreign policy dealing with the Kosovo crisis. On the other hand the main problem is that simultaneously German participation in war against Yugoslavia does not allow us simply to accept Maull’s conclusion that there was no deviation from the political strategy of a civilian power. As a result, this event is a challenge for proponents of the civilian power concept because it has shown the weaknesses of this concept and the necessity to make it more precise. Unfortunately, proponents of the civilian power concept have not taken up this challenge yet. The prevailing explanation seems to be unsatisfactory.