Conveners: DHI Washington; Bundeskanzler-Willy-Brandt-Stiftung, Berlin
Willy Brandt remained active in foreign policy beyond his resignation as Chancellor. Among his objectives were his attempts to turn Social Democracy and (western) Europe into serious global players. Brandt did not intend to leave peace and security to the superpowers. This included the United States who he was not shy to criticize frequently. As early as the debate over President Carter’s neutron bomb proposal in 1978 severe differences of opinion occurred. This dispute escalated during the controversy about NATO’s dual track decision, 1979-1983. At the same time the proposals of the North-South Commission, chaired by Brandt, were highly unpopular in Washington.
Brandt wished to overcome the bipolar confrontation of the Cold War and to offer Social Democracy as an alternative to the ideologies of the two superpowers. Brandt was keen on finding new partners in the so-called “Third World” for this endeavor, in particular in Latin American and the Caribbean. Many countries in the ‘Global South’ looked upon Brandt’s initiatives very favorably. In the mid-1970s a rapprochement between the forces of reform in western Europe and Latin America could be observed. Both were interested in reflecting critically upon the ideas that characterized western values in both their philosophical and practical political dimensions.
Willy Brandt’s expanding interest in Latin America and his activities on behalf of the Socialist International (SI), whose chairman he became in 1976, led to increasing conflicts with the Reagan administration. After all, for the first time in its history the SI supported the armed fight of liberation movements and opposed Washington’s view that all conflicts in Latin America were due to the Cold War. Europe’s Social Democrats and the liberationmovements in Latin American were agreed that the cause for many if not most conflicts were based on deep intra-societal problems in Latin America itself.
The disputes and controversies with the U.S. threatened to become a problem for West German politics. Brandt did his best not to be accused of “Anti-americanism” and attempted to overcome the many prejudices in the U.S. toward Social Democracy. He found no helpful partner in domestic U.S. politics, however. Yet his prestige as antifascist, former Chancellor and Nobel peace prize winner as well as his huge personal network of contacts in the U.S. balanced this to some extent. On occasion, there also existed phases of agreement between Washington and Social Democracy in Europe, such as regarding developments in Nicaragua in 1979, Chile in 1988 and of course Reagan’s cooperation with Gorbachev in the years after 1985.
New global challenges occurred in the course of the events of 1989-1991. Brandt largely agreed with Washington’s policy toward the unfolding process of German unification. He was less enamored by the Bush administration’s intention to resolve the Kuwait crisis of 1991 by military means. Brandt recommended instead to exploit all peaceful means of reversing Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait. This conflict strengthened Willy Brandt’s endeavors to develop the debate about a new world order and enhance the role of the United Nations. He also reflected on the role of the U.S. as the sole remaining superpower and the post-Cold War tasks of NATO.
Veranstaltungsort: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Haus II, Konferenzsaal, Hiroshimastraße 28, 10785 Berlin
