By the late 1960s, West Germany and Israel were moving in almost opposite diplomatic directions in a political environment dominated by the Cold War. The Federal Republic launched ambitious policies to reconcile with its Iron Curtain neighbors, expand its influence in the Arab world, and promote West European interests vis-a-vis the United States. By contrast, Israel, unable to obtain peace with the Arabs after its 1967 military victory and threatened by Palestinian terrorism, became increasingly dependent upon the United States, estranged from the USSR and Western Europe, and isolated from the Third World. Nonetheless, the two countries remained connected by shared security concerns, personal bonds, and recurrent evocations of the German-Jewish past. Drawing upon newly-available sources covering the first decade of the countries' formal diplomatic ties, Carole Fink reveals the underlying issues that shaped these two countries' fraught relationship and sets their foreign and domestic policies in a global context.

West Germany and Israel: Foreign Relations, Domestic Politics, and the Cold War, 1965–1974

Kurt Birrenbach and the Evolution of German Atlanticism Samuel J. Baurkot, Jr. This dissertation, an earlier version of which was submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University in 2014, explores the multifaceted life of Kurt Birrenbach as a window into the historical evolution of a Liberal German Atlanticism during the post-World War II era. While tracing the development of this Atlanticism into a “mature,” establishment phenomenon, themes addressed include the founding and financing of an elaborate infrastructure, the creation of extensive political networks also stretching abroad, the execution of ambitious public relations actions, and distinct tendencies towards geographic and thematic expansion. Those challenges confronting Atlanticism in the Federal Republic, among them the persistence of Conservative Abendland perspectives and, later, the rise on the Left of interrelated pacifist, anti-nuclear and environmental movements, are touched upon as well. The broader historiographical issues examined encompass postwar continuity and discontinuity in the Federal Republic, processes of Americanization, the functioning of transnational networks, the impact of generational change, and the political engagement of West German business.

Kurt Birrenbach and the Evolution of German Atlanticism

Der Beitrag skizziert einen neuen, sprachphilosophisch inspirierten Forschungsansatz („Vokabularanalyse“) und wendet ihn exemplarisch auf die deutsche Ausenpolitik an. Ohne die Diskussion daruber fortzusetzen, ob Kontinuitat oder Wandel fur die deutsche Ausenpolitik seit der Vereinigung kennzeichnend ist, rekonstruiert der Beitrag die Entwicklung der deutschen ausenpolitischen Praxis zwischen 1986 und 2002 anhand des Sprachgebrauchs der ausenpolitischen Elite. Exemplarisch wird der Gebrauch der Schlusselbegriffe Deutschland, Europa, Macht, Verantwortung, Selbstbewusstsein und Stolz analysiert. Es zeigt sich, dass im semantischen Netz, aus dem der ausenpolitische Diskurs in Deutschland gewoben ist, mittels der Vokabularanalyse erstaunliche Verschiebungen sichtbar gemacht werden konnen — Verschiebungen, die ihrerseits nicht folgenlos fur die ausenpolitische Identitat Deutschlands bleiben.

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„Selbstbewusst“ und „stolz“. Das außenpolitische Vokabular der Berliner Republik als Fährte einer Neuorientierung

This article examines the relationship between German chancellor Helmut Kohl and his Christian Democratic Union. It first explains why his predecessors met with different degrees of success in winning support for government decisions from their own parties. An assessment of Kohl's record then confirms that attracting voters is less critical in this regard than serving as a link within the coalition and as a manager of party‐internal affirs. Kohl's own strategies for steering his coalition and running the CDU through a personal network, mediation among subgroups and contact with functionaries are presented as key aspects of his leadership.

The chancellor as manager: Helmut Kohl, the CDU and governance in Germany

The mid-1960s to mid-1970s was a period of unexpected upheaval, ideological ferment, issue polarization and changing of the guard in the United States no less than in West Germany or other European countries. Nearly everywhere politics moved from an era of tranquillity to an era of confrontation. Established political parties were challenged by the salience of new issues and by new forms of political participation. The ability of parties to govern and, at the same time, to prove responsive under these circumstances was put to a severe test. The hold of parties on the mass electorate appeared to be slipping, and the writing of scenarios for partisan realignment and dealignment turned into a cottage industry.

Arnulf Baring

Papers

Machtwechsel : die Ära Brandt-Scheel

Im Anfang war Adenauer : die Entstehung der Kanzlerdemokratie

Der 17. Juni 1953

Es lebe die Republik, es lebe Deutschland! : Stationen demokratischer Erneuerung 1949-1999

Kanzler Krisen Koalitionen : von Konrad Adenauer bis Angela Merkel