Doing Too Much--or Too Little : Germany works toward a useful mid-course correction in immigration and defense

Two basic laws that have done much to define key domestic policies in postwar Germany may be nearing major modification, signaling a historic political shift.

This week the Social Democrats, the main opposition party, voted to support limiting non-German immigration and to back a constitutional change to permit German armed forces to participate in U.N. peacekeeping actions. The first action was prompted by a growing crisis arising in good part out of the collapse of communism in Europe and the unification of East Germany with the Federal Republic. The second action reflects a growing sense that Germany, nearly a half-century after the defeat of Nazism, must take a more active part in world affairs. That sense was boosted when Germany became the object of international criticism and even ridicule because it felt constitutionally prohibited from contributing forces to last year’s Persian Gulf War.

The vote by the Social Democrats (the SPD) on immigration policy clears the way for a compromise with Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s three-party governing coalition. The SPD is firm in insisting that Germany remains morally bound to continue to offer asylum to all who are politically threatened. But it is ready to contribute to the necessary two-thirds vote in the parliament to amend the constitution to tighten entry procedures. Clearly, that can be done without jeopardizing legitimate claims to political asylum.

Germany has become to no small extent the victim of its own generosity. It has made itself the destination of choice for hundreds of thousands of economic immigrants from Europe, Africa and Asia by its readiness to admit virtually all who claim political asylum, and by providing housing and subsidies to the claimants over the years that it takes to investigate their cases. Before the economic burdens and social disruptions of unification occurred, the immigrant influx was manageable. Now it has become a cause of growing friction and resentment, the excuse for right-wing violence and a wave of xenophobic hatred.

If the consensus building behind a change in immigration policy reflects a growing political nervousness, the consensus that is shaping up to contribute German armed forces to U.N.-sanctioned operations betokens a growing national self-confidence. Germany does inescapably have a larger role to play in world affairs. The challenge for politicians cognizant of modern German history and the emotions it still evokes is to make sure that this new role is defined in ways that will be welcomed elsewhere in Europe and the world.