German Unification and European Security
How has German unity impacted the U.S. in terms of its policies and its expectations of Germany as part of that evolving Europe in which it has become so critically important? How have the following years impacted the shaping of U.S. foreign policy, its goals, and its application? What expectations emerged about the global role of the U.S. and our expectations of a unified Germany? The questions above are the ones on which AICGS has asked commentators in this series to reflect upon as the 25th anniversary of the unification of Germany approaches on October 3. They are all significant questions but, given the space constraints, I would like to limit this brief comment to one particular aspect on which I have some modest expertise: the extensive overlap between the process that yielded German unification and the process that yielded expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Germany and America
Taken as a whole, the 25 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall have in the West been an unquestioned success. Two parts of Germany merged hostile systems without drama or dangerous economic strain. To ensure that nationalism will not be reborn, the former Western Europe of the European Communities has expanded into a continent-wide Union of 28 democratic nations, some of which had not known true freedom in their entire histories.
German Energy Security, Raw Materials Supply, and Shifting Geopolitical Impacts
Germany, one of the largest energy consumers in the world, is a peculiar case when it comes to energy security and raw material supply. While the country actually has a …
Truce At Last?
The biggest surprise in Ukraine this month is the dog that didn’t bark. In the first week of September not a single Ukrainian soldier was killed in the Ukrainian-Russian battleground …
A Europe “Whole and Free”
On May 31, 1989, a determined U.S. President George H. W. Bush strode to a podium in Mainz, West Germany to explain his vision of what Europe could be like if the Cold War ever ended. “The passion for freedom cannot be denied forever,” President Bush told West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and others who gathered for his speech. “The world has waited long enough. The time is right. Let Europe be whole and free.”
Recent Authors
AGI provides knowledge, insights, and networks as tools to solve the challenges ahead.
Support Our WorkClose to the Brink
In January 2015, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Science and Security board decided to move the Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight. The clock now sits at three minutes …
AGI President Dr. Jackson Janes Discusses Cooperation with Russia
Intensifying pressure brought on by waves of refugee migrants to Europe has generated much debate about Germany’s and Europe’s foreign policy choices regarding the war in Syria. On September 18, …
Refugee Realities: Between Bridges and Boundaries
Just as she marks the tenth anniversary of her tenure as chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel is confronted with a crisis—one whose magnitude diminishes others she has encountered over the …
Germany’s Real Refugee Crisis
Germany’s growing refugee crisis has prompted experts to question the country’s foreign policy regarding the troubled neighborhood around Europe’s frontier. In this article from The New York Times, Clemins Wergin, …
Immigration in Crisis, On Both Sides of the Atlantic
As waves of refugees continue to enter Europe, they are being greeted with various reactions by EU member states. Many migrants are headed for Germany, perceived by many as the …
Containing Gazprom
Since Russia first invaded Ukraine last year, Putin has boasted of his ability to exploit natural gas dependency to undermine European solidarity. Indeed, though the continent as a whole relies …
AGI President Dr. Jackson Janes Discusses Turkey and The U.S.
In this recent interview, AGI President Dr. Jackson Janes sits down with Deutschlandfunk to discuss the moral dilemma between the U.S.-Turkey alliance against the Islamic State (IS) and the Turkish …
