The certainty that they are good at solving challenges is reflected in Germany’s international role. As a large trading nation, they naturally place great emphasis on building a well-functioning global trading system, including the fight against tax havens. But it is in the climate and environmental field that they have excelled most in recent decades. Germany was a leader in the work of establishing the Kyoto agreement , and the country is currently leading a number of international initiatives related to environmental protection and biodiversity. The country is also a world leader in the phasing in of renewable energy, with the goal of achieving the UN’s goal of a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 80–85 per cent by 2050. Already today, in periods of good wind and solar conditions, they manage to cover more than half of the energy consumption from wind and solar power.
8: A different great power
Unlike France and Britain, Germany has never been an important colonial power. It is true that they had some colonies for short periods, but German elites never developed a sense of guardianship over people in distant lands – that they had a “civilization call” – as was seen in Paris and London. Together with the experiences of the Nazi era, which have created strong pacifist currents in the people, this helps to explain why the Germans are more reticent than their allies when it comes to international military interventions.
According to COUNTRYVV.COM, Germany’s geographical location, like the Western superpower closest to Russia, has also made the Germans more compromising towards Moscow than others. During the Ukraine crisis in 2014, it was German diplomats who took the lead in the work of getting the Russians to stop the interference in the neighboring country.
9: Germany and Norway
Ever since World War II, most people in Norway have looked more towards the United States and Great Britain than towards the continent. In a larger historical perspective, however, we have long traditions of looking to Germany. Language teaching at school is a telling indicator, where English for decades has shifted German as the most important foreign language.
But after German reunification, relations between Norway and Germany have become closer again. A large number of Norwegian artists have settled in Berlin, and more and more Norwegians are visiting the German capital on holiday.
Germany is Norway’s most important partner in Europe and one of Norway’s most important trading partners, which leads to the development of increasingly comprehensive networks and collaborative projects. Norwegian business and industry has begun to encourage young people to learn German again, and promises exciting jobs to those who take up the challenge.
Last but not least, Norwegian foreign politicians have found that Germany is the great power in the world with which we share the most common interests . The country is more characterized by egalitarian thinking than other great powers OK and concerned with building an international legal order. The degree of agreement between Norway and Germany in international forums is strikingly large. And during the controversial US-led intervention in Afghanistan, the Norwegian and German social debates were mirror images of each other.
Germany certainly plays in a completely different league than Norway, as a member of both G7 / G8, G20 and the EU. But relations between the countries have become so good that Norwegian politicians now perceive Germany as a channel for Norwegian interests into all these international forums.
The main reason why German politicians are responsive to their Norwegian colleagues is that they regard Norway as a like-minded partner in many areas. Mutuality has been expressed, among other things, in the fact that the Germans have wanted to learn from Norway in family policy, in order to remedy a development where the Germans have fewer and fewer children. Many Germans also feel that they have a Nordic identity – that they are part of a northern cultural community in addition to the European one.
Part of the Europe in Change series
This issue of Where Does It Happen? (HHD) is part of the series “Europe in change” which will address conditions and developments in Europe and the EU. This also means Norway’s relations with Europe and the EU, among other things as it appears in EEA co-operation. To a large extent, the
articles will be in addition to regular yearlings’ 24 articles in Where does it happen ?.
The series “Europe in Change” is a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , and the NDLA (Norwegian Digital Learning Arena).
Facts
Part of the Europe in Change series
This issue of Where Does It Happen? (HHD) is part of the series “Europe in change” which addresses conditions and developments in Europe and the EU. This also means Norway’s relations with Europe and the EU, among other things as it appears in EEA co-operation. To a large extent, the articles will be in addition to regular yearlings’ 24 articles in Where does it happen?
The series “Europe in Change” is a collaboration between the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs , and the NDLA (Norwegian Digital Learning Arena).
Germany – some facts
Surface content::357,000 km 2 . Norway 324 000 km 2
Population: 80.8 mill.
Median age: 46.1 years
Population growth: -0.18%
Life expectancy: 80.4 years. K: 82.9, M: 78.1
Religion: Protestants: 34%, Roman Catholics: 34%, Muslims: 3.7%. Other and non-believers: 28.3%
Composition of GDP: Agriculture: 0.8%, Industry: 28% and Services: 71.2%
Unemployment: about 4 percent
Employment by sector: Agriculture; 1.6%, industry: 24.6%, services: 73.8 (2011)
