We're the Good Guys

Responsible behavior toward oneself and toward others is something that can be learned. Many people say, “I already know what’s right and good.” Others say, “I’m unsure about certain issues.” And some look to role models in history or in their personal lives and wonder how those people would have solved a problem.

Time and again, we find ourselves in situations where it’s important to be able to assess the consequences of our own actions. This is particularly important for soldiers: They bear responsibility for others and for themselves and must be able to stand by their decisions—before superiors, before subordinates, in court, and, not least, before their own conscience.

This reader, featuring text examples from antiquity, the Middle Ages, the modern era, and the present day, invites readers to reflect on what is good and right. It provides guidance for self-study and encourages discussion of ethical and moral issues. The reader is intended to help soldiers act responsibly and in accordance with their conscience in conflict and crisis situations.

The Editor

Prof. Dr. theol. Angelika Dörfler-Dierken teaches at the Institute for the History of Christianity and Historical Theology in the Department of Protestant Theology at the University of Hamburg. From 2003 to 2021, she was project director for “Inner Leadership, Ethics, and Military Chaplaincy” at the Bundeswehr Institute for Social Sciences/Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr.

Book Details

Reader on Ethical Education: Suggestions for Soldiers of the Bundeswehr. Edited by Angelika Dörfler-Dierken on behalf of the ZMSBw, Potsdam 2026 (= Potsdam Publications of the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr, 37), ISBN: 978-3-99192-591-0; 318 pp., 14.00 euros

Further information and an excerpt from the book can be found on the ZMSBw website.