Interpretations of Germany's Power, Identity and Foreign Policy. - JMMZ259

• Title: Interpretations of Germany´s Power, Identity and Foreign Policy.
• Guaranteed by: Department of German and Austrian Studies (23-KNRS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2018
• Semester: summer
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:0/2, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unknown / unknown (15)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: not taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Jakub Eberle, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: Jakub Eberle, Ph.D. (29.01.2018)

The module will discuss and evaluate the different concepts that are being used to interpret foreign policies of contemporary Germany. Academic, political and media discourses are rich on different notions, which attempt to explain what kind of actor the Federal Republic is and why it acts the way it does. Ranging from civilian power, through normalised power, to Europe’s reluctant hegemon and geo-economic power, all of these concepts offer particular interpretations of Germany’s identity, power and foreign policy. The module will introduce the main concepts and discuss them in turn. Particular emphasis will be put on independent critical thinking skills, which will be utilised and developed in analysing the achievements, deficiencies as well as comparative and interdisciplinary relevance of the dominant interpretations of German foreign policy. The module will have the form of a seminar, in which students will be asked to read English language articles and discuss them in the class.

Course completion requirements

Last update: Jakub Eberle, Ph.D. (20.02.2018)

25 % attendance in classes (students are expected to attend and be fully prepared in at least 70 % classes)

25 % presentation (15-20 minutes, including the preparation of a written handout of 1-2 pages, different topic than essay)

50 % essay of 3000-3500 words - DEADLINE: 15 June 2018 (submit by email)

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A good essay guide:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/07/how-to-write-an-essay

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Marking scale:

A (Excellent): 100 – 91 pts
B (Very good):  81 - 90 
C (Good):  71 – 80
D (Sufficient): 61 - 70
E (meeting minimal criteria): 51 – 61
F (Fail):  0 - 50

Syllabus

Last update: Jakub Eberle, Ph.D. (29.01.2018)

 

1.       Introductory Session (21 February)

No reading required.

 

2.       National Interest, Survival, Self-Help: Germany as a Great Power (28 February)

Mearsheimer, John (1990) “Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War”. International Security 15:1, 5-56.

 

3.       Constructing a Brave New World: Germany as a Civilian Power (7 March)

Maull, Hanns (1990) “Germany and Japan: The New Civilian Powers.” Foreign Affairs 69:5, 91–106.

Crawford, Beverly and Kim B. Olsen. 2017. “The Puzzle of Persistence and Power: Explaining Germany’s Normative Foreign Policy.” German Politics 26 (4): 591-608.

 

4.       Growing Up: Germany as a Normal(ised) Power (14 March)

Bulmer, Simon - Paterson, William (2010) “Germany and the European Union: from ‘tamed power’ to normalized power?” International Affairs 86:5, 1051-1073.

Kundnani, Hans (2012) “The Concept of ‘Normality’ in German Foreign Policy since Unification”. German Politics & Society 30:2, 38-58.

 

5.       Power and Leadership: Germany as Europe’s Hegemon (21 March)

Crawford, Beverly (2007) Power and German Foreign Policy: Embedded Hegemony in Europe. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 20-55 (with focus on p. 34-55).

Bulmer, Simon - Paterson, William (2013) “Germany as the EU’s reluctant hegemon? Of economic strength and political constraints.” Journal of European Public Policy 20:10, 1387-1405.

 

6.       Economics über alles: Germany as a Geo-economic Power (28 March)

Kundnani, Hans (2011) “Germany as a Geo-economic Power.” The Washington Quarterly 34: 3, 31-45.

Szabo, Stephen (2017) "Germany: From Civilian Power to a Geo-economic Shaping Power." German Politics and Society 35: 3, 38-54. 

 

7.       Petty Politics in a ‘Bigger Switzerland’: Domestication and Erosion (4 April)

Maull, Hanns (2006) “Conclusion: Uncertain Power - German Foreign Policy into the Twenty-First Century”. In Hanns Maull (ed.) Germany’s Uncertain Power Foreign Policy of the Berlin Republic. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 273-286.

Harnisch, Sebastian (2009) “‘The Politics of Domestication’: A New Paradigm in German Foreign Policy”. German Politics 18:4, 455-468.

 

NO SESSION ON 11 APRIL

 

8.       Remembering and Forgetting: The Politics of Memory in German Foreign Policy (18 April)

Wittlinger, Ruth - Larose, Martin (2007) “No Future for Germany’s Past? Collective Memory and German Foreign Policy.” German Politics 16:4, 481-495.

Zehfuss, Maja (2007) Wounds of Memory: The Politics of War in Germany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-31.

 

9.       Apologies and Reconciliation in German Foreign Policy (25 April)

Renner, Judith (2011) “‘I'm sorry for apologising’: Czech and German apologies and their perlocutionary effects.” Review of International Studies 37:4, 1579-1597.

Wittlinger, Ruth (2018) “A ‘model of reconciliation’? Fifty years of German–Israeli relations.” Cooperation and Conflict. 

 

10.       Discourse and Identity: (De)Constructing German Foreign Policy (2 May)

Bach, Jonathan (1999) Between Sovereignty and Integration: German Foreign Policy and National Identity after 1989. Hamburg: LIT Verlag, 9-12, 43-63, 147-175.

 

11.       Securing the Self: Ontological Security and German Foreign Policy (9 May)

Berenskoetter, Felix – Giegerich, Bastian (2010) “From NATO to ESDP: A Social Constructivist Analysis of German Strategic Adjustment after the End of the Cold War”. Security Studies 19:3, 407-452.

 

12.       Emotions and Desires in German Foreign Policy (16 May)

Koschut, Simon (2014) “Emotional (security) communities: the significance of emotion norms in inter-allied conflict management.” Review of International Studies 40:3, 533-558.

Eberle, Jakub (2017) “Narrative, Desire, Ontological Security, Transgression: Fantasy as a Factor in International Politics”. Journal of International Relations and Development.