Abstract
As it became a non‐permanent member of the UN Security Council in January 2003, Germany stepped up its opposition to war with Iraq. The stage was set for a repeat of Germany's uncomfortable position during the 1991 Gulf War. At that time, as most of Germany's allies rallied behind Washington, Germany made only financial contributions, and hundreds of thousands of Germans took to the streets to protest against the war. Yet, since 1991, Germany had come a long way in its attitudes towards military force. From a policy of complete abstention from military deployments beyond NATO's area (so‐called ‘out‐of‐area’ missions), Berlin had moved to participation in a range of operations in the Balkans, East Timor and Afghanistan. The new crisis over Iraq threatened to undo this progress. Thus, it is worth examining the limits to, and possibilities of, reunified Germany's willingness to use military force abroad.