Coming of Age

German Foreign Policy since 1945

Helga Haftendorn

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2006
• eBook ISBN: 9780742574168
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: German History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

In this authoritative book, the only work to cover the full sweep of German foreign policy since the end of World War II, noted scholar Helga Haftendorn explores Germany's remarkable recovery from wartime defeat and destruction. Offspring of the Cold War, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic entered the international arena in 1949 under three crippling constraints: they were held accountable for the crimes of the Third Reich, they were fully dependent on the occupation powers, and their international room for maneuver was limited by an East-West conflict that placed Bonn and East Berlin on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. Tracing the FRG's strategy of multilateralism, Haftendorn convincingly demonstrates how these liabilities transformed into opportunities as Germany found a security guarantee in NATO membership and economic and political rewards in the system of European integration. The author's overview of past half-century shows a high degree of continuity and consistency in German foreign policy despite the tumultuous events of the era. However, Haftendorn argues that Germany's traditional policy of self-restraint was increasingly counterbalanced by a more assertive stance after reunification and the rise of a post-war generation to power. Although the country's leaders continued to value international institutions, the benefits were increasingly weighed against Germany's enlightened self-interest. Scholars and students of contemporary Germany, Europe, and East-West relations will find this nuanced and knowledgeable study invaluable.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Abbreviations and Acronyms
• Acknowledgments
• Foreign Policy in the Center of Europe: An Introduction
• Chapter One - The Formative Phase of the Federal Republic
• Chapter Two - Basic Decisions on European Policy
• Chapter Three - The Federal Republic of Germany in the Atlantic Alliance
• Chapter Four - The German Democratic Republic as the Second German State
• Chapter Five - Ostpolitik and Detente: Rapprochement with the East
• Chapter Six - The “Economic Miracle” Becomes the Locomotive of the Western Economy
• Chapter Seven - From the NATO Double-Track Decision to the Double-Zero Solution
• Chapter Eight - The Road to Reunification
• Chapter Nine - The European Community and the Path to the European Union
• Chapter Ten - New Challenges after the End of the East-West Conflict
• From Self-Restraint to Assertion:Conclusions
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author