The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic & International Security

"Transatlantic Security and the new Obama Administration"

Speaker: The Hon. Joschka Fischer,
Former German Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor


24 February 2009, 1pm, The Attlee Suite, Portcullis House

To attend, please RSVP to:
kimberley.trewhitt@transatlanticsecurity.org

(confirmation of your place will be provided in due course with Members and Peers receiving preference)


By kind invitation of Gisela Stuart, MP, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Transatlantic and International Security is pleased to invite you to a discussion with The Hon. Joschka Fischer, Former Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor of Germany.

Mr Fischer will discuss transatlantic security and the new Obama administration. The development of this new relationship will largely be played out in the prism of NATO. As NATO approaches its 60th anniversary, the objectives, future direction and the very existence of the organisation are all likely to be put to the test this year.

Particularly prevalent are issues surrounding operations in Afghanistan. President Obama's aim to switch focus from Iraq to Afghanistan involves two compnents: an increase in the number of US troops deployed in the region and an increase in the number of NATO troops. European NATO allies will be expected to show their commitment to the alliance by 'stepping up' and providing what is necessary. But a challenge to this approach has already been laid out by current German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who recently underlined a pacifist foreign policy approach, expressing German preference to be involved more heavily in Afghanistan on a civilian rather than military level. There are also unresolved questions about the restrictions imposed upon freedom of action of NATO troops. How will this sit with the goals of the USA in Afghanistan?

Furthermore, the Russian question will continue to dominate the transatlantic security agenda in 2009, particularly in light of recent calls from Russia for the creation of a renewed framework for European security organisation. With Mr Fischer having recently suggested an invitation be put to Russia to enter the architecture of European security, how exactly would this work and what would the consequences be?

With the Obama administration having been hailed as heralding a new era in American politics, yet likely to insist on similar foreign policy priorities as the Bush administration, Mr Fischer will analyse the outlook for transatlantic relations in 2009.

Biography

Joschka Fischer was Foreign Minister and Vice-Chancellor of Germany from 1998-2005 and is the second-longest serving Foreign Minister in post-war German history. Having left school in 1965, without a school leaving certificate, Fischer became involved in the German student movement and left-wing movement in the late 1960s. He attended university lectures as a guest and studied the works of Hegel, Mao and Marx.

In 1971, whilst working for car-manufacturer Opel, Fischer attempted to rally workers to organise for a coming Communist revolution. He was fired from this position because of his political activities. The Autumn of 1977 saw Germany confronted with a series of left-wing terrorist attacks, by the Red Army Faction and Revolutionary Cells, including the kidnapping and murder of Hanns-Martin Schleyer and the Entebbe hijacking in Uganda. These events reportedly caused Fischer to renounce violence as a means of enacting political change and his political orientation moved towards the new social movements and later the Green Party.

From 1983 to 1985, Fischer was a member of the Bundestag for the Green Party. In 1985 he became Minister for the Environment in Hessen in the first Social Democrat - Green coalition government and again filled this position from 1991 - 1994. Fischer was appointed as co-chairman of the Green party in the Bundestag in 1994 and proceeded to steer the Green Party to the centre ground of German politics.

In September 1998 when Gerhard Schröder and the Social Democrats defeated the Christian Democrat government of Helmut Kohl, the Green Party proved to be the desired component to form a coalition government. The coalition took power on 27 October 1998, with Fischer as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Throughout his time in this position, Fischer supported military action in Kosovo, which was the first German active military mission since the Second World War and also backed German troops joining the NATO mission in Afghanistan.

After defeat of the coalition government in the 2005 election, Fischer announced his retirement. In his life after politics, Fischer was guest professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a senior fellow at the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, both at Princeton University from 2006-2007. He is currently employed as Senior Strategic Counsel at the Albright Group LLC and Strategic Consultant to Albright Capital Management LLC. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the International Crisis Group and the European Council on Foreign Relations.


APPG Officers

Chair
Mrs Gisela Stuart MP

Vice Chairs
Mr Patrick Mercer MP
Mr Paul Keetch MP

Treasurer
Mr David Ruffley MP

Secretary
Mr Derek Twigg MP