Foreign & Security Policy

On 18 February 2008, the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung hosted a dinner discussion with Knesset member Yossi Beilin in Berlin which was attended by politicians, journalists, diplomats, and academics. According to Beilin, the real danger of an Iranian nuclear weapons capability will be the shifting balance of power in the Middle East rather than an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel.

German fractions in the debate about military deployment of international and German troops always pretend to care about the Afghans´opinion. In fact they seem to ignore their real interests. A study of the Berlins Free University´s political science department comes to similar conclusions.

He who wishes to avoid the fatal alternative: “to bomb or to accept”, must therefore focus on a combination of overtures and pressure when dealing with Iran.