Egon Bahr - Other Political Activities and Initiatives

Other Political Activities and Initiatives

In 1980, Bahr became a member of the Independent Commission for Disarmament and Security under the chairmanship of Swedish politician Olof Palme. The Commission published its findings in a 1982 report titled “Common Security”. Among the report’s recommendations was the concept of a nuclear-free corridor in Central Europe.

Bahr went on to publish various writings about the future of German foreign policy following the end of the Cold War (see “Publications” below). He advocated among other things for Europe and Germany to exercise greater influence in the world in the context of a “civilizing force” (“Zivilmacht"). In 1991, Bahr promoted discussion of the creation of a potential German peace corps.

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in 2005, Bahr confessed that, as a teenager, he had felt a “certain pride” that Poland, France, Denmark, and Norway had been conquered so quickly by the German Wehrmacht. According to a book by German politicians Bernhard and Hans-Jochen Vogel, Bahr reportedly said at the beginning of November 1989, “For heaven’s sake, let’s stop dreaming and blathering about German unity”; the Berlin Wall fell only days later on 9 November 1989.