German Foreign Policy: The Temptation of Going Alone

Germany’s handling of the sovereign debt crisis gripping the eurozone has led some to wonder whether Germany has lost interest in Europe, or in the role it has historically played in the European Union. But does Germany really believe it has other, global options for a more unilateral foreign policy? Is Berlin falling prey to an Eastern temptation, whether from Moscow or Beijing? The answer is clearly “no,” but it is a no that has shades of gray. And those shades of gray are now combining to cast a shadow over the skies of Berlin; German foreign policy is no longer unambiguous, to say the least.

The problem can be traced to the fact that Germany, as Henry Kissinger once noted, might be too big for Europe, but too small for the world. The post-World War II accommodation left Germany embedded in a dense network of institutionalized Western relations, from NATO to the EU. The new “German question” seems to be whether Germany at the beginning of the 21st century is still able and willing to engage thoroughly in European integration, or whether it is winding its way out of the EU to go global alone. For its part, the German government has put an increasing emphasis on its European commitment in recent months. At the beginning of this year, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle not only underscored the importance and value of Europe for Germany, but also defended Germany’s euro-crisis management, which for months has been under fierce attack for being “too little, too late.”  ...