Shades of Green

Abstract

The German Green Party’s evolution from an absolute pacifist party to what we call engaged pacifism during the period from 1992 to 2005 deserves the attention of just war scholars because such an evolution shows how and why pacifists can come to accept – and limit – the use of force. Because the German Greens’ values are embedded in pacifist principles linked to Germany’s strategic culture – a presumption against war, fear of state power politics and escalation, and a deep sensitivity to war’s destructiveness – their foreign policy outlook is defined by an alternative logic encompassing different strategies and goals compared to the just war tradition. The Kosovo crisis and the War on Terror demonstrate how the Greens’ engaged pacifism offers a form of critical solidarity with the just war tradition by serving as a check on certain interpretations of the jus ad bellum criteria.