Citizen Dialogues on Foreign Policy (DE0048)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Foreign policy is highly complex, often confidential and not something people experience much in day-to-day life. At the same time, the war in Ukraine and climate change, for example, have ramifications and cause concerns that need to be talked about. Public trust in the Federal Government’s foreign policy activities and nuanced debate about polarising issues are not only impeded by echo chambers but deliberately hampered by disinformation. There is a lack of authentic access and dialogue-based information for interested members of the public on foreign policy decision-making processes and the diverse domains of the work of the Federal Foreign Office (FFO). FFO staff wish there were formats for dialogue with the interested public, to better understand and gain a clearer picture of people’s perceptions and expectations in relation to specific social concerns of relevance to foreign policy.

What is the commitment? The FFO will perpetuate structures and processes that facilitate dialogue-based public diplomacy (beyond 2025 where possible). The starting point for this commitment is the existing pool of speakers serving the Visitor Centre at the FFO in Berlin. Made up of volun- teers, the pool is to be expanded and enabled, through travel expenses and other factors, to operate nationwide. In contrast to earlier measures which only took place in Berlin (includ- ing the FFO contribution to the second NAP), the FFO will now go to people across the country – taking a decentralised approach. In tandem with this, collaborations with civil- society structures will be built up in stages to help spread the word of discussion events.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? FFO staff dealing with specific specialist areas will make themselves available to answer questions from members of the public in schools, universities, NGOs, chambers of industry and commerce, adult education centres, associations, etc. throughout Germany. Thanks to their expertise, they will provide authentic insights into the Federal Government’s foreign policy activities. The resultant dialogue will simultaneously give them important findings about perceptions and expectations to take back to their everyday work in Berlin and Bonn. The network of ties with mediating civil-society structures will strengthen those organisa- tions’ insight into foreign-policy processes and decision-making and consequently enhance their lobbying capabilities regarding these.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? This project will generate transparency by offering people a chance to learn more about foreign policy from the personal experience of FFO staff. Interested questions from the public generate discussions and new insights with more depth and a greater variety of per- spectives than are otherwise usual in the day-to-day political discourse. People’s involve- ment and participation in government and administration will be enhanced.

Milestone activity with a verifiable deliverable | Start date - Implementation by

Upgrading of the pool of speakers at the FFO Visitor Centre, incl. in-person formats; wide-ranging measures to attract FFO speakers | 3rd quarter of 2023 - 4th quarter of 2023

Contact and collaboration with 3–5 suitable civil-society structures (incl. in eastern Germany) | 2nd quarter of 2023 - 4th quarter of 2023

Conducting approx. 20–30 events in 2023 | By December 2023

1-year review | June 2024 - July 2024

Conducting approx. 50–100 events in 2024 | By December 2024

2-year review | June 2025 - July 2025

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5. Foreign policy citizen dialogues

Commitment 5 continues a commitment by the Federal Foreign Office (FFO) from the second action plan (2019–2021) to bring foreign policy closer to the public. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “Zeitenwende” proclamation, foreign policy has been high on Germany’s political agenda. The commitment calls for organizing decentralized dialogues between the pool of volunteers at the FFO’s Visitor Centre and the public. These events have previously taken place exclusively in Berlin and will now be expanded to other parts of Germany. The FFO will also increase their pool of volunteers and collaborate with three to five civil society organizations. Stakeholders find this commitment particularly timely as it could make the abstract topics of foreign policy more understandable to citizens and help the FFO understand the priorities of citizens. The IRM recommends reaching new audiences by collaborating with civil society organizations beyond the usual suspects, such as those that work in youth education and with disadvantaged groups. During the consultation, it was also recommended to integrate this dialogue into municipal foreign policy as some regions are highly dependent on their foreign relations (e.g., Hamburg and Duisburg for their ports, and Mannheim with their development initiatives abroad). [57] These initiatives are currently not well linked to federal foreign policy and could be discussed through these dialogues.