McCarthy Hearings (1954). Senator Joseph McCarthy’s anti-communist investigations targeted the personal loyalties and reputations of government officials, military officers, and private citizens. Accusations of professional disloyalty were treated as attacks on personal character, often resulting in ruined careers and social ostracism—highlighting how, in American public life, professional and personal assessments are inseparable.
politics
Paris Climate Agreement
Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement (2017): Although not in the search results, this modern example fits the pattern: the U.S. entered the Paris Agreement on climate change but later withdrew, asserting the right to exit when national interests were perceived to be at stake.
Germany steps up emergency cash plans to cope in blackout
German authorities are stepping up preparations for emergency cash deliveries in case of a blackout to keep the economy running, four people involved said, as the nation braces for possible power cuts arising from the war in Ukraine.
The plans include the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, hoarding extra billions to cope with a surge in demand, and possible limits on withdrawals, one of the people said.
Germany’s nationwide emergency warning day hitches
September 2020. For the first time in almost 30 years, Germany carried out a nationwide emergency warning day. But not everything went as planned. For those living in or visiting Germany on Thursday, things got loud this morning.
At 11 a.m. sharp (0900 GMT) Germany carried out a nationwide test of its civil alarm systems — with everything from sirens to push notifications on smartphones being tested. The test was slated to run for exactly 20 minutes. It’s the first test of its kind since Germany was reunified in 1991.
The German approach to emergency/disaster management
Disaster control and disaster relief in Germany are public tasks. The German system is based on the principle of subsidiarity between official and private institutions. A lot of official and private relief organisations are responsible for the execution of disaster relief tasks.
In Germany the following organisations exist: Official (GO): Technisches Hilfswerk (THW/Federal Technical Support Service), Feuerwehren (Fire Brigades/professionals and volunteers) Academie of Emergency Planning and Civil Defense Private (NGO): Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund Deutschland (ASB/Workers’ Samaritan Association Germany), Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbruchiger (DGzRS, German Lifesaving Association), Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK/German Red Cross), Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe (JUH/St. John’s Ambulance), Malteser Hilfsdienst (MEID/Maltese-Relief-Organisation).
The German constitution allows to call the federal army in case of disaster, to support the disaster relief organisations (for example: flood Oder River 1997, train-crash “ICE” 1998). In all counties and district free cities disaster control staffs are set up by the administration.
How Germany’s disaster management system works
July 2021. Deutsche Welle. Unlike many other countries, Germany’s civil protection and disaster management system is deeply rooted in communal and municipal structures. The current flood catastrophe has disclosed major shortcomings.
When the first floods hit southwestern Germany last week, local emergency managers were the first to initiate rescue operations on the ground. But it would soon become apparent that the unfolding natural disaster was more than what they could cope with, and that responses would have to be coordinated at a higher level in the emergency chain of command.
It was high time the crisis managers of the affected counties and municipalities took over, coordinating assignments of police, firefighters and paramedics to help save lives and provide assistance where needed.
Germany has a total of 294 counties and 107 self-governing municipalities, including major cities such as Potsdam, Cologne and Leipzig. In big emergencies, county governors can request assistance from other, less affected, regions to pool their crisis-fighting capabilities in task forces. Those are usually set up and run by a regional state government, of which there are 16 in Germany’s federal state-based political system.
European Stability Mechanism (2012)
Wolfgang Schäuble, as Finance Minister, played a central role in negotiating the European Stability Mechanism. He was known for his strict, no-nonsense approach, insisting on clear financial rules and enforcement mechanisms, underscoring the German preference for contractual certainty and fiscal discipline.
Military Aid to Ukraine
Modern German Political Decision-Making (e.g. Military Aid to Ukraine): Recent decisions, such as sending military aid to Ukraine or providing German-made tanks, have been characterized by lengthy internal debate and demands for contextual clarity. Germany’s government typically seeks broad consensus among coalition partners and ministries, and only acts after extensive information gathering and negotiation. Allies often note Germany’s hesitancy, but when a decision is finally made, it is highly committed and rarely reversed.
In Germany, a tendency to know-it-all is spreading. That could be politically dangerous
NZZ. December 2022. Germans don’t tend towards extremism – actually. But in the political and media sphere, know-it-alls and paternalism are increasingly noticeable. Contempt for the normal is a cause for concern.
For a long time, modern Germany was not a country to worry about from a democratic point of view. According to a study by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion from this year, 25 percent of Germans place themselves exactly in the middle of the democratic opinion spectrum; 36 percent slightly to the left, 29 percent slightly to the right of this center. That’s 90 percent between center-left and center-right. Actually calming.
Why Schäuble sees too many Germans going it alone
Wolfgang Schäuble has been a member of the Bundestag for exactly 50 years, making him the sole record holder. For the anniversary, the CDU politician will basically be with Markus Lanz. He criticizes Germany’s “know-it-all” on many issues, which means that Germany is met with a lack of understanding from many international partners and allies.
As an example, Schäuble cites the discussion about the “One Love” armband at the World Cup in Qatar. This moral exaggeration does not fit the federal government’s gas deal with Qatar. Germany needs this relationship right now. And don’t stick to what other countries would like to dictate.
But even in the debate about the raid in the “Reichsbürger” milieu, an internal contradiction becomes clear. Such a successful search is only possible thanks to a certain level of surveillance of suspects, for example by wiretapping communications. Here Germany must find the right balance between freedom and security. And between security and morality.
It is similar for Schäuble in energy policy. Germany has been going its own difficult path here since Nord Stream 1. But with Nord Stream 2 at the latest, they have moved far too far away from the other Europeans and the Americans.