{
  "id": "RL32710",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32710",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 305034,
      "date": "2004-12-27",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T20:00:34.197818",
      "title": "Germany's Role in Fighting Terrorism: Implications for U.S. Policy",
      "summary": "This report examines Germany's response to global Islamic terrorism after the September 11,\n2001\nattacks in the United States. It looks at current German strategy, domestic efforts, and international\nresponses, including possible gaps and weaknesses. It examines the state of U.S.-German\ncooperation, including problems and prospects for future cooperation. This report may be updated\nas needed.\n  Although somewhat overshadowed in the public view by the strong and vocal disagreements\nover Iraq policy, U.S.-German cooperation in the global fight against international terrorism has\nbeen extensive. German support is particularly important because several Al Qaeda members and\n9/11 plotters lived there and the country is a key hub for the transnational flow of persons and goods.\nDomestically, Germany faces the challenge of having a sizable population of Muslims, some with\nextremist views, whom terrorists might seek to recruit.\n  German counterterrorism strategy shares a number of elements with that of the United States,\nalthough there are clear differences in emphasis. Like the United States, Germany now sees radical\nIslamic terrorism as its primary national security threat and itself as a potential target of attack. \nToday, Germany also recognizes that threats to its domestic security lie far beyond its own borders,\nin places such as Afghanistan.\n  Germany has introduced a number of policy, legislative, and organizational reforms since 9/11\nto make the country less hospitable to potential terrorists. Despite these reforms, critics point to\ncontinuing problems hampering Germany's domestic efforts. German law enforcement and\nintelligence communities face more bureaucratic hurdles, stricter constraints, and closer oversight\nthan those in many other countries.\n  The German government has sent troops into combat beyond Europe for the first time since\nWorld War II. Currently Germany has about 7,800 troops based abroad of which some forty percent\nare directly engaged in counterterror missions. In Afghanistan, some 2,300 German soldiers\nparticipate in the  International Security Assistance Force  (ISAF). Germany's role in\nAfghanistan's\nstabilization and reconstruction is substantial. German military efforts have been hampered to some\nextent by delays in implementing military reforms to make German forces more expeditionary. \n  A key question for U.S. German relations is whether differences on issues such as Iraq policy\n-- shaped by different national interests, practices, and historical experiences -- will harm\nU.S.-German cooperation against terrorism. Some believe that understanding and accepting these\ndifferences (agreeing to disagree) may be the\n best approach to enhancing future U.S.-German cooperation in the global war on terrorism. \nBoth\ncountries have strong incentives to make the cooperation work.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RL32710",
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}