It is more nuanced than my simple formulation:
I keep reading that the Germans hate their militaristic past so much that they don't want to fight.
Let's try applying the clue bat to Germany's collective skull on this issue.
Conquering and setting up death camps under the shield of a powerful military? That's bad. By all means, don't do that.
Having a military capable of fighting death cult enemies or stopping the Russians from moving west? Well, that's a good thing. Try doing that.
How does the more nuanced examination of the author's discussion of German military views fit with my portrayal?
As I read along, it added details that are interesting. But then the author went and ruined the ride:
In his 1999 work titled Social Theory of International Politics, [Wendt] states that the change in behaviour of allies and the relationship they have with an actor affects the actor’s identity. In other words, the method in which Germany’s allies treat the nation has affected the nation’s definition of itself. Germany’s non-military identity was partly a product of the negative connotation its neighbours attached to its military force during the Third Reich. With a change in political discourse and rhetoric, Germany was able to reinvent its identity and transform itself as a military might in a continent that houses three of the P5 nations and a strong inter-continental alliance called NATO. [emphasis added]
So rather than nuance, it is the fault of Germany's neighbors that Germany is still--after all these decades past their Nazi past--reluctant to carry out military operations within the Western alliance.
And saying that Germany is a "military might" within an alliance is so counter to the reality of a weak Germany that I have to further wonder about the author's grasp of nuance.
Germany went from having a military capable of fighting in defense of its border with East Germany alongside formidable military allies (NATO) to being willing to participate abroad with allies or the international community in military actions not associated with real fighting, while allowing their ability to fight in defense of NATO's frontier--or even Germany itself--to atrophy to the point of irrelevance.
But it is our fault and not Germany's. I really don't get nuance.
Say, at what point will the call by neighbors to actually have a real military affect Germany's definition of itself to the point that is has a military capable of fighting death cult enemies or stopping the Russians from moving west?
Simple minds would like to know what wars Germany is against.
