Afghanistan, Mali, two percent target – a lot of work awaits the new government. What to expect from Germany in terms of foreign policy and what legacies of the previous government must be cleared up by the new one.
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Alexandra Föderl-Schmid
Afghanistan – was there something? It is amazing how quickly this topic has disappeared from the political discussion, which was so dominant in the summer. Foreign policy was hardly discussed in the TV trialles before the federal elections, and only briefly in the elephant round. Even after the general election, Germany only looked at domestic politics for weeks. Some of the foreign policy issues, such as Afghanistan, need to be tackled quickly, while fundamental decisions need to be made on others as soon as possible. In an alliance of three parties, reaching agreements will be even more difficult. But the world around Germany is not standing still. Germany cannot ignore what is happening in Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of the international protection forces, the Taliban are showing more and more clearly every day that they are serious about Sharia law, the expulsion of girls from schools and the banishment of women from universities. Journalists are arrested and given death threats. The news that a suffragette had been murdered shook the world in early November.