Germany's abstention in the vote upon UN Security Council resolution 1973 evoked a worldwide lack of understanding. While NATO, EU and the Arab League supported the military intervention in Libya in order to protect civilians from attacks by dictator Gaddafi's army, Germany declared its refusal to participate. In HSFK-Standpunkt 2/2011 "Ein Desaster. Deutschland und der Fall Libyen. Wie sich Deutschland moralisch und außenpolitisch in die Isolation manövrierte", Harald Müller examines the German arguments for the abstention in the vote and the refusal to deploy German soldiers in Libya. He defends a contrary view and enlists the damages that have been caused by the German "no": isolation of Germany within EU and NATO, damage of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, affront towards Obama and humanitarian failure.
This HSFK-Standpunkt is available as download (in German only).