As reported by World Socialist Website, this year's Munich Security Conference exacerbated ongoing wars and geopolitical tensions. This included a discussion of the need to position university research and education more strongly in the service of German militarism. In addition to ideological preparation for war, increasing emphasis is also placed on the development of concrete weapons. To this end, the so-called “civilian clause”, the ban on military research in universities, should be abolished.
At the “Dialogue on Research Security'' panel discussion on February 16, Federal Minister of Education Bettina Stark-Watsinger (Free Democratic Party, FDP) emphasized two points. Research is a geopolitical factor and therefore security-related, and a strong wall between the 'civilian' and the 'civilian'. and military research” had to be dismantled.
New technologies created new economic dependencies through which states demonstrated their power, Stark-Watsinger declared.
Pointing to the general wave of development and rearmament in Israel and the United States, he concluded that militarism and ideological warfare must be brought back to universities.
The Education Minister ended his speech by citing the European Union's “open science” principle: “as open as possible, closed as necessary.”
Since the Munich talks, Mr. Stark-Watsinger has given a number of interviews in which he has elaborated on the government's position.
“As Federal Research Minister, I would like to encourage further cooperation between civilian and military research in appropriate areas,” she told dpa news agency. She continued:
This is about leveraging synergies and strengthening innovative power. Other important partners, such as Israel and the United States, have been successful in showing us how to do this. We can no longer do without them. In any case, as technology advances, the line between civilian and military research is becoming increasingly blurred.
It is no coincidence that “valued partners'' Israel and the United States, which are currently carrying out genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with German support, have been chosen as models. Germany should model itself on the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Israeli military's 8,200 units, according to a 2023 and 2024 report by the government's Expert Committee on Research and Innovation (EFI).
DARPA was established in 1958 in response to Sputnik, the Soviet Union's first satellite launch into space. It has an annual budget of $4.1 billion and contributes to the development of risky and costly new military technologies. This amounts to approximately 3.7 billion euros, almost three times the current federal budget for environmental protection and nature conservation.
The Israeli army's 8200 unit is considered the core element of Israel's IT sector, as many former soldiers work in the civilian technology field. The unit is trained in the fields of “information and communications technology, computer science, and cybersecurity,” and primarily operates in covert military operations such as counterintelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, cyber warfare, and code-breaking.
The German government has plans to establish and expand such projects.
EFI's report specifically praises the Cybersecurity Innovation Agency, which was established in 2020. The agency, based in Halle (Saxony-Anhalt), is already violating the separation of civilian and military research. The expert panel is calling on the federal government to expand the agency's scope.
The Bundeswehr's 100 billion euro “special fund” is to provide resources in the areas of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). This aims to strengthen German imperialism under the guise of “digital transformation.”
As China and the US top international rankings in AI development, EFI warns that Germany and Europe are becoming “unilaterally dependent” and can no longer be “sovereign” in terms of technology. The EFI Report 2023, which served as the basis for discussions at the Munich Security Conference, proposed a number of measures toward China, following on from the China strategy announced by the coalition government last year.
The EU will serve as a vehicle for Germany to improve its technological expertise. Key technology and standardization activities will be developed in cooperation with EU partners.
To prevent so-called “knowledge leaks” to China, high requirements are being placed on joint projects with Chinese companies, as well as the establishment of a separate “China Competence Center” for German-Chinese cooperation.
The “civilian clause” has long been a thorn in the side of the ruling class, especially in light of its vast rearmament program. Universities will once again become centers of militarism, as they did before World War I and World War II.
The “civilian clause” is a voluntary obligation to conduct research at German universities for peaceful purposes only. This excludes, among other things, the acceptance of third-party funding from the military industry.
The “civilian clause” was first implemented at the University of Bremen in 1986 as a reaction to the Cold War arms race. Since then, approximately 70 universities have adopted this provision. This clause is based on the strong belief of the German people, after World War II and the Holocaust, that war and mass destruction should never again emanate from German soil.
Meanwhile, the EFI concludes that “the strict separation that has existed in Germany for decades needs to be fundamentally reconsidered and, if necessary, abolished.”
It continues like this.
The panel of experts has already noted in its previous report that this separation will result in the efficient use of scarce resources for research and innovation to solve socially important problems, such as securing data networks and critical infrastructure. It is pointed out that it is not being utilized.
This is a cover to pave the way for the revival of German militarism in universities.
In autumn 2023, Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius (Social Democratic Party, SPD) called on Germany to “change its thinking.” For the coalition government of the SPD, FDP and Greens, it is not only an unprecedented military buildup of ammunition and war equipment, but also a call on Germany's university environment to serve German imperialism.
Pistorius declared:
We have to get used to the idea that there can be a threat of war in Europe. That is, we must become fit for war, protect ourselves and prepare the Bundeswehr and society for war.
These developments confirm the warnings of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), which has been fighting for more than a decade against the transformation of universities into centers of militarism.
In 2014, the German Institute for International Security Affairs (SWP), the central think tank of the German bourgeoisie, in collaboration with the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States, published the document “New Powers – New Responsibilities”. did. Elements of Germany's foreign and security policy for a world in transition. Regarding the role of universities, he says:
Faster response times and more complex environments also require better cognitive skills and knowledge. Knowledge, awareness, understanding, judgment, strategic foresight: all these skills can be taught and trained. However, this will require investment not only by states but also by universities, research institutes, foundations, and foreign policy institutions. The goal must be to establish an intellectual environment that not only enables and fosters political creativity, but also allows policy options to be developed quickly and in a viable form.
Since then, militarism and right-wing ideology have become systematically socially acceptable in universities. Immediately after the German government announced the end of foreign policy restraints in 2014, professors Herfried Münkler and Jörg Baberowski began pushing far-right revisionist theses in lectures at Humboldt University. According to Münkler, Germany must lead as Europe's “taskmaster.”
This policy requires relativizing the crimes of the Nazis. This is because, according to Münkler, “the most serious vulnerability” is “the one caused by Germany's history, which is a reference to the rise of National Socialism.” [Nazism], its racial ideology, the policy of extortion and annexation pursued by Hitler after 1938, the crimes of the Wehrmacht in the war of aggression after September 1939, especially against the Soviet Union, and finally the murder of European Jews. include. ”
Whereas Münkler sought to downplay Germany's role in World War I, Baberowski's mission was to justify the worst crimes in human history committed by the fascist Nazi regime, namely the Holocaust and the war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, and to It was to become This culminated in an infamous report in a major news weekly of the time. Der Spiegel, In the paper, titled “The Crimes of World War: The Question of Responsibility Divides Today's Historians,” Baberowski argued that Hitler “had no malicious intent.”
When IYSSE criticized this falsification of history, it was fiercely attacked by university authorities, all establishment representatives, and most of the media, but it found great support among students and workers.
Universities are now turning into war not only ideologically, but also practically. While “civilian clauses” have long been avoided in favor of military cooperation with universities, the new plan goes far beyond this. If the government had its way, universities would not be run as institutions of education and knowledge, but rather to make Germany “fit for war.”
IYSSE appeals to all students to prevent this from happening. The only way to stop the madness of world war and its preparations in the universities is to rally the working class against capitalism on the basis of an international socialist program. Students must fight for this direction and perspective.
