From ‘Staatsräson’ to International Law – Leuphana Security Dialogue

2026-05-20 As part of the Leuphana Security Dialogue, Dr Mariam Salehi (Free University of Berlin) and Prof. Dr Antje Wiener (University of Hamburg) discussed Germany’s historical responsibility and its foreign policy implications under the heading “From ‘Staatsräson’ to International Law”. The evening was moderated by conflict researcher Dr Wolfgang Minatti (Leuphana University).

The starting point was the norm of ‘Staatsräson’ (reason of state), established since Angela Merkel’s 2008 speech to the Knesset, which links Germany’s historical responsibility arising from the Holocaust to unconditional support for Israel. Antje Wiener contextualised the origins and normative development of this concept and raised the question of whether Staatsräson can truly be regarded as a functional norm in the sense of political science and international law, given that its proponents use the term in a vague and often indefinable manner. Mariam Salehi, meanwhile, spoke about the political functions of Staatsräson and its links to German identity, coming to terms with the past, and the country’s domestic and foreign policy. Both speakers then discussed the hypothesis that Staatsräson is often used for domestic rather than foreign policy purposes.

Furthermore, Salehi and Wiener explored alternative ways in which Germany’s historical responsibility might be translated into the country’s foreign and security policy. Topics discussed included, for example, a stronger focus on international law and human rights as universal principles, as well as the extent to which other chapters of German history – such as colonialism or the division of Germany – might complement a policy that is historically informed but bears broader responsibility.