Security Report 2023
What troubles the population the most?
The German population now perceives Russia as by far the greatest threat to world peace. photo
© Arne Dedert/dpa
War, refugee movements, energy shortages: when one crisis overshadows the other, what yesterday caused great fears sometimes fades into the background. For example climate change.
The war in Ukraine and the price increases are causing the German population more trouble than anything else at the moment. According to a survey, climate change and the concern that the energy supply could no longer be secure is still bothering a little more than every second person in Germany.
However, inflation and war both worry more than 80 percent of the population aged 16 and over. In the survey in January, 57 percent each expressed concern that the gap between rich and poor would grow or that a large influx of refugees to Europe could be imminent. However, only a minority are still very worried about the corona pandemic.
The results of the “Security Report 2023”, which the opinion research institute Allensbach presented together with the Center for Strategy and Higher Management, provide information on many current topics. The German population now perceives Russia as by far the greatest threat to peace in the world. When asked which country would probably pose the greatest threat in the coming years, 82 percent of the participants in the representative survey named Russia. 60 percent of those surveyed opted for China. 52 percent of the population consider the nuclear power North Korea to be a very serious threat. Respondents could select several states from a list of 14 and suggest others.
Before the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the perception was different, as a comparison with the results of previous surveys shows. In 2021, only 32 percent of the population aged 16 and over perceived Russia as the greatest threat. The figure for China at the time was 46 percent. North Korea rated a majority of 58 percent as very dangerous.
People in East Germany are skeptical about the USA
The results of the “Security Report” show that, more than three decades after reunification, East and West still have very different views of the great powers. While every second person (50 percent) in West Germany considers the USA to be a reliable ally, in the new federal states this is only slightly more than every fourth (26 percent). The value of East Germans, who perceive Russia as a major threat to peace, is also lower in the East at 73 percent than in the West, where 84 percent of those surveyed hold this view.
The willingness to contribute to the defense of another NATO member state in accordance with the NATO alliance obligation in an emergency is also significantly less pronounced in the East than in the West. 48 percent of Germans in the west think Germany should take part in such a military operation. In the east of the country, only 30 percent of those surveyed thought this was correct. Nationwide, a total of 45 percent of the population are in favor of Germany fulfilling its NATO obligations in such a case. 35 percent of those surveyed said it was better to “keep out of it”. One in five was undecided on this question.
“No clear commitment to alliance obligations in NATO”
Article Five of the NATO Alliance Treaty stipulates that the partners regard an armed attack against one or more of them as an attack against all. You agree to provide assistance. Specifically, it says that it is about the measures they consider necessary to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area – including armed force.
“The fact that there is no clear commitment among the Germans to the alliance’s obligations in NATO is shocking,” said the co-editor of the study, Klaus Schweinsberg from the Center for Strategy and Higher Leadership. “The NATO partners, especially in the east, will look at this lack of solidarity among the German population with concern and incomprehension and will demand a clear commitment from German politicians.”
Fewer people in Germany than a few months ago are concerned that Russia will carry out its more or less directly expressed threat of using nuclear weapons. In January, a good one in three (34 percent) considered this risk to be “very high” or “rather high”. Last October, significantly more people (45 percent) thought so.