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PARTISAN REVIEW
The unification of the two German states in 1990 was possible due
to the end of the East-West conflict, but it came as a surprise to the
Germans themselves.
I will restrict myself to Germany's foreign policy in its relationship
with the United States - a very special one for the FRG since its begin–
nings. What is the future of this special relationship? Which develop–
ments will affect it? Is there a growing political distance between the
U.S . and Germany? Or will there be, after a period of readjustment, a
kind of American-German co-leadership of the Western world? Because
of the character of the 1990s as a decade of rapid change and turbulence
in the international system, there is no way to produce more than a
preliminary perspective on these questions. However, there is enough
evidence pointing to the emergence of a new structural framework in
the international system.
For the Germans, the decades of the East-West conflict appear now
as a rather idyllic era. The possibility of a nuclear war in Europe was
perceived (the years between 1979 and 1984 being a sort of exception) as
a permanent threat but not a likelihood. West Germany was fully inte–
grated into the Western alliance.
It
was generally felt that there was no
viable alternative, and, indeed, there was hardly any group or political
party opposing it, some anti-Americanism on the political left notwith–
standing.
The end of the East-West conflict changed this constellation. As a
result, for the first time Germany must make strategic choices. Although
the concept of national sovereignty is somewhat blurred, it makes sense
to argue that a unified Germany, which has won "full sovereignty" by
the Two-Plus-Four Treaty (the ultimate substitute for a peace treaty
which will never come), had become accustomed to international super–
vision and thus has difficulties in adapting itself to maneuver freely.
The international system has been undergoing dramatic changes. The
most relevant of these changes are the trend towards globalization, as
more and more aspects of people's lives are drawn into networks irre–
spective of their geographical location; the trend toward fragmentation
of traditional political units; the increase in the number of participants in
the international system; the increase in categories of inter- and transna–
tional actors; the diversification of power and of the methods to make
use of it.
Even the U.S., which in the wake of the break-down of Soviet
Communism was perceived as the only surviving superpower, had to
learn that its status did not really help to introduce a "new world or–
der."
It
is difficult to define the profile of any new world order, because
political developments after the end of the East-West conflict displayed a
