Strategic Dilemmas and the Evolution of German Foreign Policy since Unification

Book excerpt: Lantis examines continuity and change in German foreign policy in the decade since unification. Between 1949 and 1990, the Federal Republic of Germany pursued one of the most consistent foreign policy patterns of any Western power. Restrictions on an assertive German military posture became deeply rooted in the public psyche, in foreign policy tradition, and in the Basic Law. However, the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the unification of Germany have fundamentally changed the international and domestic parameters of German foreign policy. A review of contemporary developments shows that a dramatic evolution of German foreign policy is currently underway—from checkbook diplomacy in the Gulf War to the humanitarian relief mission in the Horn of Africa, and from Contact Group diplomacy to airstrikes in Kosovo. To explore this evolution of German foreign policy since unification, Lantis presents an innovative model of external-internal linkages derived from two important areas of scholarship on the role of international crises as catalysts for foreign policy change and the importance of domestic political conditions that ultimately determine the scope and pace of such change. Five original case studies place German political debates about how best to respond to challenges of the post-Cold War era in social and historical context by drawing on discursive analyses of government documents, parliamentary debates, and elite interviews. These cases illustrate the rise of a new consensus on the political left for engagement in global affairs, reinterpretations of historical lessons for contemporary German policy, and the constitutional challenges of global activism since unification. Of particular interest to scholars, students, and researchers involved with German politics, international security policy, and comparative foreign policy.