In a little more than a decade, Germany’s role in international affairs—
particularly from a military perspective—has radically changed. Whereas
German participation during the Persian Gulf War of 1991 was
basically limited to providing financial support to the international
coalition led by the United States, by the end of 2001, German soldiers
were operating under combat conditions in the United Nations peacekeeping
mission to Afghanistan. During (and even before) this transition,
little attention has been devoted to the German Bundestag’s
constitutional role as overseer of executive foreign affairs activities.