The remaking of identity: The question of normative power in German foreign policy (1997-2007).

Daehnhardt, Patricia (2008) The remaking of identity: The question of normative power in German foreign policy (1997-2007). PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the dimension of normative power in Germany's foreign policy and the extent to which the contours of a changing German international identity have transformed the parameters of that normative power. It studies how foreign policy has moved between a logic of appropriateness and a logic of consequentialism in Germany's motivations for political action. The thesis is informed by social constructivism and liberal institutionalism, in that it starts from the premise that German foreign policy is inherently shaped by identity and institutions. Whereas most academic work emphasizes continuity in foreign policy after unification, this thesis argues that Germany's foreign policy has changed significantly between 1997 and 2007. This happened because policy-makers reformulated Germany's international identity thereby shaping a new framework tor foreign policy. This remaking of identity diminished the country's predominantly normative orientation and reinforced a more utilitarian approach for foreign policy-making. The thesis attempts to show how this remaking of identity was conducted and how identity change preceded the shift in the realm of foreign policy. The empirical part of the thesis compares the foreign policies of the governments of Chancellors Helmut Kohl, Gerhard Schroder and Angela Merkel in the period from 1997 to 2007. To do so it examines four case studies which are representative of the transformation in German post-unification foreign policy: Germany's new security policy; the Europeanization of Germany's European policy regarding the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); bilateral relationships with France and the United States, and Germany's quest for permanent membership of the UN Security Council. These four policy domains all involve fundamental choices about Germany's foreign policy identity, and the nature of Germany's normative power at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Political Science, International Relations
Sets:	Collections > ProQuest Etheses Departments > International Relations
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/2963

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