Joschka Fischer and Kosovo

by John Rensenbrink

Joschka Fischer and the German Green Party, as we all know, are part of the German government and the German government is part of the NATO war in the Balkans. Even more to the point, Joschka is Germany's Foreign Minister. How and what are we Greens on all shores to think about this?

      This is the fifth piece I am writing stimulated by my attendance, as a representative of the Association of State Green Parties (USA), at the Paris Congress of EFGP on the last weekend of February of this year.

      The observation and plea with which I began this series is that we Greens around the world, and especially in the United States, must begin to focus more carefully and fully on matters global.

      That need has never been more compelling or more brutally apparent than right now as the NATO bombing continues in Serbia and Kosovo and the horrific shoving of ethnic Albanians out of their homeland continues un-abated.

      Joschka Fischer is in the eye of the storm. That's an awesome thing, actually. Suddenly a thing has happened that even a short 8 or 10 months ago would have seemed totally impossible: that a strong Green leader would be a major figure in one of this century's most horrifying and portentous catastrophes. We Greens were not ready for this, neither those in the action nor those witnessing and agonizing over the action. But yet here we are, thrown into the thick of it. I say *we*, because in one way or the other, we are all necessarily involved.

      I want to understand, and want us to understand, Joschka's situation as it may appear to him and as it may appear to us.

      Of course, an option for him and his party is to make the great refusal, to resign the office of foreign minister and the other two ministries they head and thus to terminate the coalition with the Social Democrats and very likely bring about the downfall of Schroeder's government.

      That is an option. But is it better than any other? Is it better than sticking with the situation and looking for ways to deal that might prove salutary? This is a choice. A tough one. But a choice. In that light, we should proceed to examine the continued participation of the Green Party and Joschka Fischer in the military action of NATO in and about Kosovo.

      I noted in the first piece that the most salient fact in the world today is the hegemonic role that the U.S. government has assumed and asserted for itself in the world. Europe has until very recently basically gone along with this. A dependent relationship has developed which Europeans, led by Great Britain in this regard, have pretty much accepted. They've gotten into the habit of looking to the U.S. for direction and ultimate decision. Joschka and the Green Party in Germany, as well as Green Parties elsewhere in Europe, perceive this, quite rightly, as a fundamental mistake. But the habit persists. When Washington decided to bomb, the European governments went along with it (some, like Great Britain, voicing strong support).

      What should have been done instead can be stated, and it is not just hindsight. There were other things that could have been done. Long ago, at least a decade ago, the bully in Belgrade showed himself to be a bully. With a bully you avoid violence as much as possible, because that is what bullies are good at. During the past several years, truly earnest efforts should have been made to contain, quarantine, and undermine the bully. It was then crucial to involve the Russian government at every step, but this didn't happen. It was equally crucial thus to work within and through the UN, but this wasn't done either. One lame excuse was that turning to the UN wouldn't work because of a Russian veto in the Security Council. But that's just the point! A bona fide effort to include the Russians from the start AND coupling this with a strong effort to work through the UN (and not through NATO), this could have worked. It certainly should have been tried, but it wasn't. In addition, it was crucial to work with Albania, with Montenegro, and also, why not, with Macedonia. And then also with Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Croatia too. Also, serious efforts should have been made to work with the forces for democracy in Serbia itself. And last, but not least, there should have been a steady effort to work with the movement for autonomy/independence in Kosovo. The U.S. policy there was confusing and confused, born of the failure to zero in on the central problem, the problem of the bully in Belgrade.

      In other words, if only the U.S. government could have stopped behaving like the world's super policeman, stopped acting out the lofty moralism of the Lone Ranger, stopped acting like the top-dog performing heroically on the world stage. If only, instead, it had sought truly to build the coalition that could contain, quarantine, and politically undermine the bully in Belgrade -- at home, on his borders, and abroad.

      But that's not Washington's way. It wants to be the ONE who calls the shots. And, combined with this attitude and partly the cause of this attitude, it has an overweening pride in its vaunted military technology. It was, as with Vietnam, suckered into thinking that it has the kind of weapons that can intimidate and overwhelm any foe, bringing them swiftly to their knees. It ignored the "predictable consequences" of resort to bombing; namely, that the bully would accelerate to the nth degree the rape and forced expulsion of the ethnic Albanians. What was also ignored (and maybe they didn't care?) is that the bombing would solidify the bully's hold on the people of Serbia and would cruelly undercut the nascent forces of democracy there. An absolutely horrible mess ensued, and continues now into the fifth week. It is a colossal blunder committed by the dominant political class in the U.S. and the two major parties through which it works its ways, with the acquiescence of most European governments. An unspeakable and unnecessary tragedy.

      Joschka and the German Green Party found themselves in a trap. What do do! It would have helped so much if there had been a strong political force in the United States that could have restrained the hegemonic attitudes and actions of the U.S. Government both before the bombing and once the bombing had proceeded and had resulted in the "predictable consequences."

      But there wasn't, and isn't, such a force. We know why. So many progressive and left forces in the U.S. have chosen political irrelevance for decades. They have instead gone in one of two directions. They have either renounced the political sphere altogether in the utterly jejune and fastidious notion that "politics" is impure; or they have frittered away their energy and concern by continuing to labor fruitlessly within the Democratic Party, a hollow shell dominated by the hegemonic political class who are devoted primarily to careers, power, and money.

      Because of all this, the Green Party in the US,those committed to building a serious, credible, and transformational political party, have had to struggle against incredible odds, and are just now beginning to establish a beachhead in the political sphere. Not enough political force is there yet to temper the attitudes and actions of the reigning political class in the U.S.; which if it were in place would be a tremendous assist to the efforts of the German Greens and Joschka Fischer in this desperate moment.

      Yet, one perceives that Joschka and his party are working their butts off to find a way to meet this desperate moment. From them, and from some others, has come a plan. The press calls it the German Plan. It has ingenious elements: treat the Russians as crucial in finding a way forward; make a turn away from NATO, reduce its prominence, and work through the United Nations; and make a pause in the bombing to promote and provoke the Serb troops to leave Kosovo.

      The fairly lukewarm response this has received from the U.S. government is to be expected: it nudges them out of being the big cheese and invites them to be a partner with Europe and the Russians in resolving the crisis and ending the horror. That's the central point. The German plan strikes at the heart of the underlying problem (U.S. government's hegemonical fixation), and does so in a spirit of give and take and confidence building, in order to produce as much as possible a win-win situation. The other central point of the plan is that it brings into focus, in a holistic way, all those who ought to be involved, and does so in a spirit of cooperation and partnership, including especially the Russian government.

      The Plan would/will need further development of course. But the fundamental initiative is there and the basic elements are there. Oh that the Green Party were strong in the U.S. .Strong and wise. So that they could push and coax the U.S. government to follow that lead and genuinely work with the relevant others in the world on this and then also on so many other troubling security problems afflicting the planet.

      But we Greens in the United States will become strong and wise if we know that this is what is required of us. At the present time, not enough of us do know this. Too many of us are still too much in the peace movement mode of taking exaggerated rhetorical stances that reveal more about our immaturity and irresponsibility than about our consciences.

      Whether we agree with Joschka Fischer and the German Green Party or not, whether we feelthey should quit the government or not, yet we can learn from their predicament and can learn to appreciate their efforts to deal. Whatever we think they ought to do, we should give them words of encouragement along with whatever criticism we have for them. Then our critical commentary and advice can be heard and be helpful. Let us end the shrill yells of moralistic outrage and start thinking and acting in terms of ultimate responsibility. Ultimate responsibility is a holisitc responsibility. It's what ecology teaches us to do.

John Rensenbrink

New book by John Rensenbrink,*Against All Odds: The Green Transformation of American Politics*, is available from the Leopold Press draper@ime.net, and www.amazon.com.