Staatsräson – On the History of a Misunderstanding

Following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October 2023, discussions of »Staatsräson« (reason of state) have increased noticeably. Over the past months, politicians of various parties have used the term repeatedly and prominently to justify the German relationship to Israel and the resulting reactions to 7 October. However, these current references to »Staatsräson« reflect a series of conceptual misunderstandings on a number of levels: While its present-day usage sometimes appears to suggest that the term relates to some kind of constitutional principle, it is not a legally binding concept. Rather, it is seen above all as an expression of particular morally and ethically justified guiding principles for political action. In the case of Germany, these principles are in turn mostly formulated against the background of the country’s inner self-understanding and its political culture of memory regarding the crimes committed under National Socialism. Yet, by identifying the security of the State of Israel as the object of this »Staatsräson,« it actually quite decisively focuses on a political responsibility toward the outside. The various uses of the term “Staatsräson” in the Federal Republic of Germany are indivisibly connected with the experience and memory of the Holocaust and of National Socialism. While the more or less normative definition of the term today therefore seems to be derived ex negativo from the German past, in the first decades after World War Two it was precisely this past that made the use of this very term problematic. While broad swathes of Europe after the end of the Cold War appeared to settle on the Holocaust and its culture of memory as a negative foundational event, the impact of global crises and the shifts in perspective these have engendered seem to be breaking this framework of reference. The historicization of the term »Staatsräson« and the history of its usage especially in the Federal Republic of Germany – but also beyond Germany – consequently allow for new insights into the political constitutions, transformations, and ruptures of the postwar decades through to the most recent past. Meanwhile, present-day debates concerning »Staatsräson« suggest that the term may be undergoing another transformation in meaning, which not only undermines its validity but also necessitates the search for a new terminology.

The conference program is structured around three interconnected yet at the same time independent events. It opens with a public keynote lecture by Claus Leggewie entitled »Ein Jahr später: Das europäisch-israelische Verhältnis vor dem Hintergrund globaler Transformationen« (One Year Later: The European-Israeli Relationship against the Backdrop of Global Transformations), which will take place at the GRASSI Museum in Leipzig on 4 December 2024. Registration until 2 December 2024 is required to attend this event.

Further information

The program on 5 December focuses more on an intensive scholarly exchange and is thus intended to have more of an internal character. External participation is possible to a limited extent. If you are interested in joining, please send an email to Dr. des. Lukas Böckmann: boeckmann(at)dubnow.de

The conference will conclude on the evening of 5 December with a public podium discussion at the Zeitgeschichtliche Forum in Leipzig entitled »Staatsräson auf dem Prüfstand: Deutschland, Israel und der 7. Oktober« (Putting »Staatsräson« to the Test: Germany, Israel, and 7 October). Registration until 2 December 2024 is also required to attend this event.

Further information