This article dissects one of the current conflicts within Germany about the need for a military. More specifically it talks about a recent vote in Germany to leave NATO and potentially stop nuclear sharing in Germany. While Germany voted to remain in NATO the article more clearly shows why Germany did so. One of the main reasons is the benefits of NATO’S nuclear sharing. Germany along with all other countries within NATO that don’t have their own nuclear weapons are given some by the US. The reasoning behind this is so that the countries within NATO all have nuclear options should a conflict arise. Another benefit highlighted in this article is the power that comes with having a seat on the NATO nuclear planning group. NATO as a whole is essentially the arbiter of Europe and having a place within that council gives Germany a lot of power and also a role to play in the decision-making process of NATO. Most of the pushback to leaving NATO had to deal with this loss of that powerful role within the region.
The reason that Germany had considered leaving NATO was because of a conflict of interest with some of its new social democratic legislators after the recent German elections. These legislators wanted to change Germany’s foreign policy and leave NATO in favor of a new system involving Russia. This proposal was vetoed by Germany’s governing bodies, however, should the decision have been made in favor of this party Germany would have been without military backing. As in recent years, Germany has made large efforts to reduce the size of its military. These decisions were made under the guise that NATO would support Germany in the event of a conflict. However the decision to leave NATO was unlikely to pass due to a conflict of interest with Germany’s national interests. Germany has one of the largest economies in Europe, this economy drives Germany’s national interest and so because of this scaling down the military Germany has become more dependent on NATO for security. For these reasons Germany has voted to stay in NATO for the time being and continue to accept nuclear support from its allies.