High-level heads of state and government met in Berlin — among them Russia's Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and France's Emmanuel Macron. Traffic was disrupted, security was tight: Germany's effort to kick-start a peace process in Libya was a massive undertaking.

Read more: Berlin Libya conference: A first step toward peace?

In previous efforts — peace process negotiations in, for example, Somalia, Colombia and Tunisia — Germany has preferred a more "silent" approach. Those efforts did not make great waves, but that was the nature of German peace diplomacy, according to Conrad Schetter of the Bonn-based International Center for Conversion, which focuses on peace and conflict research. "Behaving like a very strong mediator is uncharted territory for Germany. Traditionally, it prefers safer ways, acting jointly with others," he told DW.

Schetter said Berlin has often been a venue for such background talks. "[The goal was for] political actors to remain in contact with each other. Coming up with an attention-grabbing, glitzy policy was not the main point," he said.

This approach had its roots in Germany's past. After two world wars, Germany for a long time shied away from a prominent role in conflict mediation. "This, however, is changing gradually, because international advisers have increasingly called on Germany to get more involved," said Schetter. And Germany is slowly accepting a more powerful role on the world stage.

Watch video 02:04 Share Tensions in Libya before summit Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/3WOyJ Tensions in Libya ahead of Berlin summit

Close partnership with Afghanistan

There are two conflict regions where Germany has already been active behind closed doors: Afghanistan and Ukraine. In both cases, Germany has acted in public as a mediator between the warring parties, hosted conferences and — in the case of Afghanistan — underpinned its efforts with a military presence in that country. Although Germany has begun to adopt a more active role, it still adheres to the basic principles of its peace diplomacy in these two regions.

One of those principles: Don't go it alone. In all its peace negotiations, Germany has remained in close consultation with other involved countries and organizations like the United Nations. A prime example is the first Afghanistan conference in 2001, shortly after the Taliban regime was brought down: the conference was initiated by the UN, with Germany welcoming leaders to talks in Bonn.

Read more: Why is Germany putting an Afghan man on trial for war crimes?

From the outset, however, Germany adopted a role which went far beyond that of host. Gerhard Schröder, then chancellor, personally committed himself to arriving at an agreement. Berlin pledged comprehensive financial and military aid, and in the ensuing years Germany remained a close partner to Afghanistan, helping to set up democratic structures and hosting a number of other conferences.

In 2005, the German Council on Foreign Relations said Germany's commitment to Afghanistan had shown that Berlin was ready to accept international responsibility. Afghanistan had provided a chance for Germany "to show it was available to act as crisis manager also beyond Europe's borders."

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Historic day for Afghanistan It all started on December 5, 2001. Germany hosted an international conference on Afghanistan at Hotel Petersberg in Bonn. Hamid Karzai was chosen as head of new Afghan transitional government. He later got elected as president in 2004 and stayed in power until 2014. In December 2001, the German parliament voted to deploy troops in Afghanistan.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan First post war combat mission outside Europe On January 11, 2002, 70 German troops landed in Kabul. This was the beginning of Bundeswehr's active involvement in the war in Afghanistan and the first major post World War II combat mission for the German army. When operations were at their peak, up to 5350 German troops were based in the country, making Germany the third largest troop contributor after the US and the UK.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Soldiers down On March 6, 2002, two German and three Danish soldiers were killed in Kabul as a result of an explosion caused by a missile they were attempting to defuse. Some 55 German soldiers lost their lives during Bundeswehr's involvement in Afghan war.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Defending Germany in the Hindu Kush Peter Struck, Germany's defense minister at the time, visited the newly deployed German troops in Kabul on July 26, 2002. Bundeswehr's Afghan mission sparked some criticism in Germany. "The security of the Federal Republic of Germany is being defended in the Hindu Kush too," Struck said referring to the country's participation in the war.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Northern Afghanistan in Focus Germany shifted its focus to relatively calm northern Afghanistan to address both domestic criticism and international expectations. German troops were deployed in northern Kunduz Province on October 25, 2003, and by 2006, Germany was NATO's lead nation for maintaining stability in northern Afghanistan. The picture shows German troop patrolling in Kunduz in 2008.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Winning the hearts and minds Germany was one of the first NATO members to move outside Kabul and establish a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), which funded aid projects alongside helping with the security in northern Afghanistan. Germany has pledged to continue financial support beyond 2014.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Training Afghan allies Germany has been a major player in training Afghan security forces. The NATO member has trained over 60,000 Afghan security forces in its four training centers across Afghanistan. The training mission had reportedly cost Germany around 503 million USD by the end of 2012.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Collateral damage On September 4, 2009, German officer Col. Georg Klein ordered an airstrike targeting two NATO fuel tanks which were abducted by Taliban fighters. The strike killed between 91 and 141 civilians, including children. The victims, who were mistaken for Taliban fighters, were at the site to collect some free fuel. The incident sparked criticism within and outside Germany.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Controversial remarks On May 22, 2010, former German president Horst Kohler made some controversial remarks during his visit to Afghanistan, which led to his resignation. Kohler appeared to justify the country's military mission in Afghanistan with the need to protect economic interests.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Security transfer As part of NATO's plan to withdraw its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Germany pulled out its troops from Badakhshan Province in 2010 and a year later from Kunduz Province. Bundeswehr military bases in these provinces were handed over to Afghan security forces. By the end of 2012, Camp Marmul in Mazar-e-Sharif was Bundeswhr's main military base in northern Afghanistan.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan Gains in jeopardy At the time of handing over Kunduz military base to Afghan security forces, NATO officials claimed that they were leaving behind a peaceful region and a stronger Afghan security force. It, however, proved to be otherwise few months later. In August 2014, Taliban fighters seized control of a NATO military camp which was handed over to Afghan forces and raised their white flag on it.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan The last stop Camp Marmul was the last stop for many German soldiers and their military equipment. The military camp has been downsizing since 2012. However, it will remain Germany's biggest military base in Afghanistan beyond 2015, accommodating up to 800 German troops to train and advice Afghan security forces.

Germany's Bundeswehr leaves behind a changed Afghanistan A new Afghan mission A contingent of roughly 12,000 foreign soldiers, providing training and support for Afghan security forces, is expected to remain at least until the end of 2016. Germany will also contribute to NATO's new training mission in Afghanistan which will start in 2015. Author: Masood Saifullah



Keeping the dialogue alive

This role as a "crisis manager" is still in demand to this day. Just a few months back, Germany hosted an intra-Afghan dialogue conference jointly with Qatar in the emirate's capital, Doha. Although participants were present as private individuals only, not in their official capacities, and published a statement of intent that was non-binding, they announced at least that they would try to prevent violence against civilians and keep up the dialogue.

Read more: US-Taliban talks: DW reporters' firsthand account from Doha

Dialogue is the second cornerstone of Germany's peace diplomacy. "Germany has always made strong efforts to understand the positions of all conflict parties, to get them on board in order to keep up the talks," said Schetter. That has also been evident in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Since 2014, the region has been locked in an ongoing conflict between armed groups supported by Russia and Ukrainian forces. From the outset, Germany has actively pushed for peace, and in doing so has made use of its good relations with Moscow. In 2015, the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily newspaper even spoke of the "permanent telephone diplomacy" between Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian president.

On an official level, Germany cooperates closely with France when it comes to the Ukrainian conflict. Paris has repeatedly hosted conferences, the most recent taking place in December after three years without meaningful talks. However, it's primarily the meetings in the so-called Normandy format — talks between representatives of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia — where Germany's peace policy has manifested itself.

Read more: Germany, Russia see goals align amid tension in Middle East

Focus on Libya

Following Afghanistan and Ukraine, the focus of German diplomacy is now on Libya. In Berlin, the aim will be to find common principles which could lead the way toward a peace process. It will be a huge, elaborately staged project, said Hans-Georg Ehrhart of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.

Sunday's meeting has been coordinated with Germany's partners, and diplomats from all sides have been preparing for weeks, Ehrhart said. With respect to the reasons behind Germany's commitment to the talks, he highlighted a multilateral context: Since the beginning of 2019, Germany has been a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

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