Beyond Bipolarity; German Foreign Policy in a Post-Cold-War World

Abstract

Poor Germany, too big for Europe, too small for the world (Henry Kissinger).

The collapse of the Yalta system and the recreation of a united Germany was accompanied by a heady mixture of high expectations and barely suppressed concern inside and outside Germany. How different would the new Germany be and what would the implications of any changes be for Germany’s neighbours and allies? The internal changes have been less than expected and a near complete process of ‘institutional transfer’ has taken place between the old Federal Republic and the five new Länder. Internally the future shape and character of the new Germany is no longer an open question; it is simply the old Federal Republic writ large (Webber, 1995).