د. فرغلى هارون
المدير العـام
 عدد الرسائل : 3278
تاريخ التسجيل : 07/05/2008
 | | موضوع: German Foreign Policy and National Identity Since 1945 2/12/2009, 5:14 pm | |
|  German Foreign Policy and National Identity Since 1945
By O'Connell, Patrick
Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, German, 2009.
Pages: 75p.
293.99 kB PDF file
As the most populous country and largest economy in Europe, Germany has always played a central role in post-World War II European and international politics. Legacies of World War II, the Third Reich and especially the Holocaust heavily influenced Germany's foreign policy during the second half of the twentieth century. The identity of Germany's foreign policy for much of the last decades has been characterized by multilateralism (EU, NATO, UN and other international organizations), diplomacy and civic power strategies within European, transatlantic and global institutional frameworks. However, geostrategic transformations in the last 15-20 years such as the end of the Cold War, new challenges such as international terrorism, and the shift from the second to the third postwar generation in Germany's political elite have resulted in a markedly new dynamic in German foreign and security policies that could lead to a “normalization” of these policies in the future. Germany has increasingly assumed leadership in international multilateral efforts and is solidifying itself as a major international political player. This project analyzes how German foreign policy has evolved since 1945, how this has impacted Germany's position in the international system, and what this means for future policies. The thesis focused on the cyclical interdependence of German foreign policy and national identity, and how they are impacted by international system changes. I applied three levels of analysis: individual/group, state, and systemic to better understand the cyclical relationship of identity and policy making. At the individual level I showed how German cultural and political elements are fused together in order to formulate policy. The state level highlighted Germany's bilateral relationships and its focus on mutually beneficial relations. Analysis at the systemic level highlighted Germany's continued commitment to multilateral and diplomatic solutions to world problems. Each of the three chapters focuses on a major international system change that has had an impact on German politics and self-perception: post World War II Europe, the post Cold War world and German unification, and the twenty-first century and its new challenges, with a focus on the NATO Afghanistan mission.
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