Factor in foreign policy germany in the events of the

2. Implementation of the soft power policy by Germany in the African continent during the events of the "Arab Spring"
The scope of the “soft power” factor in German foreign policy expanded enormously during the so-called Arab Spring. (Der Arabische Frühling). Unlike their allies during the events in Libya, Germany did not vote for a no-fly zone (resolution 1973 of 17 March 2011 and did not take part in the military operation against M. Gaddafi. The German Foreign Office initially focused on political means of conflict resolution. Thus, in the North African vector of Germany's foreign policy, a stake was initially placed on the factor of "soft power", while the party of "hawks" in NATO advocated exclusively forceful methods. (In 2013, Germany also withdrew military support France on a military expedition to Mali, limiting itself to a demonstration of friendship, sending two military transport aircraft and the promise of aid to the Malian army). The position of the German government was probably determined by the situation within the country, active protest against nuclear energy, the situation in the Eurozone and course elections, where the ruling the coalition did not want to look like a costly aggressor. This position was sharply criticized in Europe and USA. conservative expert K. Hake recalled the inadmissibility of the policy of "appeasement aggressor" of the 1938 model [8]. It is noteworthy that supporters and active promoters of the soft power policy turned out to be firm supporters of Atlantic solidarity - Christian-liberal coalition. It is also necessary to take into account one important factor determining the choice in favor of "soft power". In world history - Germany textbook example repeated and always failed attempts to claim the role world power from a position of strength. Two national catastrophes ended the implementation of an aggressive foreign policy course to expand "life space”, including in Africa. Such historical experience cannot be ignored.
Events in North Africa developing since 2011, called the "Arab Spring", was extremely widely reported in German media and analyzed in the political science literature [5]. Der Arabische Frühling was almost unanimously referred to as nothing more than Arab Revolution (Die arabische Revolution) [12].
Germany supported in its own way changes taking place in the Arab world, having initiated a large number of projects within the framework of the “soft power” policy aimed at the rapid democratization of the political life in the Arab countries. Already in February 2011, a month after the change of power, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Germany G. Westerwelle visited Tunisia.
In the press and the expert communityin the assessments of the North African policy of Germany, the term flashed "partnership for transformation" (“Transformationspartnerschaft”) [13], which in some cases was also deciphered as a Germano-Arabic dialogue cultures (Deutsch-Arabische Transformationspartnerschaft - Kulturdialog), indicating priority "soft" orientation of Germany's foreign policy in this region of the world. The German press emphasized that the German-Arab partnership starts at a turning point after peaceful protests aimed at achieving democracy and the rule of law, against oppression, tyranny and corruption led in 2011 to the overthrow tyrants in Tunisia and Egypt. federal government planned distribution partnerships across multiple fields, first of all - on such a powerful factor of "soft power" as an entity, which was one of the pillars of partnership. Russian researchers proceed from the fact that the humanitarian direction, dominated by cultural and educational components "must be not just a" third pillar" of foreign policy, and ... help lay the foundation for a sustainable foreign policy course” [2]. We believe that such a basis is already exists, and the policy of "soft power" in humanitarian sphere significantly strengthens it.