Quadriga: The International Talk Show from Berlin

Members of the German military will soon be joining efforts to combat Islamic State. That at least is what Angela Merkel's government wants. After last month's terror attacks on Paris, the chancellor told the people of France that they had Germany's fullest possible backing. Now it's time to turn words into deeds. Germany is set to commit up to 1,200 troops and Tornado reconnaissance jets to an anti-IS alliance. And the Bundeswehr will be helping to ease the burden on the French military in Mali. But, in the Bundestag, there's opposition to these deployments: there's no exit strategy, say the critics. Can IS be eradicated by military might? Or is Germany being sucked into another ill-advised military adventure? Join the conversation: quadriga(at)dw.com Our guests: Ulrike Guérot is a political analyst and Founder & Director of The European Democracy Lab. She says: “One mustn’t confuse fighting terror with ‘war’. What France hopes to achieve with ist military alliance is questionable. Equally questionable: whether there’s a clear strategy and what all this means for French-German relations.” Alan Posener is a seasoned political journalist for the Berlin newspaper Die Welt. He says: “Germany has no choice but to back France. The alternative would be the collapse of the European Union.” Friedrich Thelen worked for the German Development Service DED and later as a journalist for the business newspaper Wirtschaftswoche. Today he runs his own consulting company. He says: „If you decide to intervene in a military conflict you should always have an Exit-Strategy.“