Security and Defence Policy Opinions in Germany 2000

Since 1996, the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr (ZMSBw) has conducted a representative survey of the German population on defense and security policy issues on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Defense. In 200, this study was continued. For this purpose, N = 2413 persons were interviewed on various issues from November 3, 2000 until January 3, 2001. The present survey focused in particular on Security and threat perceptions, the role and image of the Federal Armed Forces and its soldiers, the profession of soldiering, the tasks of the Federal Armed Forces and Federal Armed Forces missions abroad, the role of compulsory military service, military cooperation in Europe, attitudes toward foreigners, gender equality and gender roles, and attitudes toward women in the Federal Armed Forces.<br>1. Security and threat perception: personal sense of security; personal significance of various aspects of security (e.g. workplace, military attacks, social security, income, ecological security, etc.); feeling of being threatened by environmental destruction, violence by other people, poverty, crime, unemployment, wars or military conflicts in the world, right-wing extremism, financial problems, loss of own goals in life, loss of values, new technologies (e.g. genetic engineering), diseases (e.g. AIDS), population growth, nuclear weapons, left-wing extremism, lack of data protection, nuclear power stations, foreign infiltration, communism, terrorism, drugs/drug addiction; probability of a military threat to Germany; the three greatest risks to security in Germany and Europe (open); suitability of various institutions and instruments to protect Germany from military risks (NATO membership, others/ new treaties with neighbouring countries, United Nations, WEU, Federal Armed Forces, European Army, general disarmament, OSCE).

2. Security policy attitudes, foreign missions of the Federal Armed Forces: Germany´s role in the world: preference for a rather active vs. rather passive international policy of Germany; approved or rejected measures for Germany´s international action (e.g. aid with food and medicine, aid of a financial and economic nature, technical aid by civil organisations, peace-keeping mission of the Federal Armed Forces within the framework of a UN mission, etc.); general attitude towards the Federal Armed Forces.

3. Assessment of public institutions: Institutional trust (Federal Constitutional Court, other courts, police, Bundesrat, state government, Federal Armed Forces, Bundestag, television, press, churches, trade unions, federal government, school system, universities, political parties).

4. Personal relationship to the Federal Armed Forces: Federal Armed Forces barracks in the residential area; family member or closer relative or friend is a soldier; respondent himself/herself, son or daughter is currently doing military service with the Federal Armed Forces or has done military service with the Federal Armed Forces/ NVA, is/was a temporary or professional soldier with the Federal Armed Forces/ NVA or is doing civilian service/ has done civilian service.

5. Role and image of the Federal Armed Forces and their soldiers: Approval of statements about the Federal Armed Forces (Federal Armed Forces has comparatively modern weapons, in terms of equipment the Federal Armed Forces can cope with any emergency, German soldiers are well trained for a possible military mission, training in the Federal Armed Forces as good preparation for deployment in the event of natural disasters, good career opportunities for temporary soldiers in the free economy, discipline and order prevails in the Federal Armed Forces, command and obedience are the basic principles of military leadership in the Federal Armed Forces, soldiers often discuss the execution of orders with superiors, in the Federal Armed Forces you can find real camaraderie, soldiers also do a lot of things together in their leisure time, in the Federal Armed Forces you are easily tempted to drink a lot of alcohol, German soldiers are masters of their craft, you can rely on the Federal Armed Forces in an emergency, in international missions of the Federal Armed Forces, German soldiers do their jobs just as well as other soldiers, in an emergency many soldiers of the Federal Armed Forces would try everything not to have to go into action, the Federal Armed Forces would not be up to an attack on Germany alone, in the event of an attack on Germany, the Federal Armed Forces would strike back the enemy in order to fend off an attack on Germany, the Federal Armed Forces need the help of allies, the Federal Armed Forces must develop into a highly professional security company because of new tasks, the ´citizen in uniform´ is outdated, the Federal Armed Forces need a new self-image, etc. ).

6. Tasks of the Federal Armed Forces: Preferences with regard to the tasks of the Federal Armed Forces (tasks of international arms control, fight against international terrorism, fight against international drug trafficking, border security against illegal immigrants, tasks in the field of environmental protection, international disaster relief, humanitarian aid and rescue services, reconstruction and development aid, international military advice, Combat operations on behalf of or under the control of international organisations, peacekeeping operations on behalf of or under the control of international organisations, protection of the constitutional order in Germany, participation in celebrations and ceremonies, education and character building, defence of Germany, defence of allies, training in civilian professions, assistance to threatened friendly nations, evacuation of Germans from crisis areas); Opinion on increasing defence expenditure; opinion on increasing the number of Federal Armed Forces soldiers.

7. Attitude towards compulsory military service: reputation of selected professions; characterisation of German citizens on the basis of selected characteristics (e.g. courageous - cowardly, industrious - lazy, intelligent - stupid, disciplined - chaotic, etc.) characterisation of professional soldiers and police officers on the basis of the above-mentioned pairs of characteristics; positive or negative attitude towards compulsory military service; opinion on compulsory military service for women; personal advice to acquaintances regarding the decision to enlist as a temporary soldier; reasons for applying for a temporary soldier in the Federal Armed Forces (e.g. merit, comradeship, vocational training and further training, etc.). Military service or alternative civilian service more important for society; opinion on the right to refuse military service; attitude towards military service (important civic duty, personal contribution to the preservation of peace, time wasted, military service is easier than alternative civilian service, military service is refused more often because alternative civilian service is possible at the place of residence, impairment of individual freedom, military service should be abolished); Future of the Federal Armed Forces (Federal Armed Forces should be a purely professional army, current mix of conscripts and professional soldiers should be maintained, Federal Armed Forces should be abolished); approval of statements on conscription, conscript army and professional army (e.g. conscription army is cheaper than a professional army, professional army is particularly attractive for young men with an increased propensity to violence, etc.); opinion on military chaplains; preferences with regard to the tasks of military chaplains (e.g. none - separation of church and Federal Armed Forces, soldier care during military missions, soldier care at the location and in barracks, care of relatives of soldiers, etc.).

8. Military Cooperation in Europe: Familiarity of various units with soldiers from different nations (e.g. German-French Brigade, Eurocorps, German-American Corps, etc.) ); attitude towards Americans, Arabs, Belgians, Bulgarians, Chinese, Danes, Germans, Englishmen, French, Israelis, Italians, Japanese, Jews, Canadians, Luxembourgers, Dutch, Norwegians, Austrians, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Swedes, Swiss, Sinti/ Roma, Slovaks, Slovenes, Czechs, Turks, Ukrainians, Hungarians and Vietnamese; Opinion on military cooperation with various countries (USA, France, Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Ukraine, Israel, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Bulgaria and Romania); Support for a European army; opinion on NATO; assessment of the NATO engagement in Bosnia; opinion on the future Federal Armed Forces participation in air attacks on Yugoslavia; opinion on the Federal Armed Forces participation in the NATO task force in Kosovo (KFOR); approval of various statements in connection with the Federal Armed Forces participation in KFOR (e.g. e.g. objective and fair reporting on the German KFOR mission in the German media; German population supports the deployment of the Federal Armed Forces in Kosovo; correct political decision to send the Federal Armed Forces to Kosovo, etc.); opinion on German participation in the European intervention force; opinion on the admission of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary to NATO; support or rejection of NATO membership by various countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Cyprus and Malta); advocacy of various forms of military cooperation between Germany and other NATO member states (NATO should be a purely military alliance, NATO states should cooperate economically, common NATO foreign policy, NATO should cooperate in all possible areas, integration of German troop units into multinational task forces, stationing of troops of other NATO member states in Germany, stationing of German troops in other NATO member states, cooperation in military training, granting of armament aid as well as in joint manoeuvres of national troops); USA dominate NATO; agreement on statements: Germany and Europe are dependent on the USA, Germany and Europe can assert interests in NATO against the USA, influence of the USA and Germany/Europe balance each other out, dominant position of the USA in NATO is good).

9. Attitudes towards foreigners, equality and gender roles, attitudes towards women in the Federal Armed Forces: Importance of various policy areas (poor economic situation, environmental pollution, costs of reunification, high proportion of foreigners, right-wing extremism, rising energy prices); e.g. continuing influx of foreigners into Germany, high unemployment rate, housing shortage in all cities, etc. agreement with various statements (foreigners living in Germany should adapt their living habits better to the Germans, foreigners should be able to fully live out their culture and nationality in Germany, when filling jobs, German applicants should be preferred to foreign applicants, foreigners should have an easier time obtaining German citizenship, as we are not doing so well economically, as many foreigners as possible should leave our country) nationalism (helping other countries only if our own country has an advantage over them, the first duty of every young German is to honour national history and its heritage, demand for much more say in international affairs because of our significant historical experience, neighbours of the former Eastern Bloc would be better off if they were to implement more of what we pretend); approval of various statements (foreign minorities enrich our culture, it should be made clear to the public how foreigners suffer from discrimination here, dangerous degree of alienation by foreigners in Germany, friendship or marriage with foreigners (it is conceivable that foreigners living in Germany should adapt their lifestyle to that of Germans, superiority of the white race, I would not mind being a citizen of another country); gender equality and gender roles; preferred model for the deployment of women as soldiers in the Federal Armed Forces; attitudes towards the service of women in the Federal Armed Forces (e.g. female soldiers can be deployed well in foreign missions requiring negotiating skills, the idea of being defended by a female soldier with a weapon in her hand is easy, uses with high physical demands are unsuitable for women, women in the Federal Armed Forces take away men´s jobs, etc.); left-right self-classification; party that best corresponds to the personal basic political attitude.

Demography: Sex; age (year of birth); educational attainment; additional vocational training; occupational group; net household income; number of persons contributing to household income; marital status; denomination; residential environment (degree of urbanisation); city size; federal state; federal state in which the respondent predominantly grew up; household size; number of persons in the household aged 16 and over, under/over 25; sex of persons under 25.

Additionally coded: respondent ID; day of the week of the interview; interview duration; interview date (day, month); east/west; weight.