Karl Cordell - Germanys Foreign Policy Towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik Revisited

A thorough examination of critical aspects of Central and Eastern European history, this book explores historical legacies and contemporary dynamics in the relations between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. The authors provide a comparative assessment of Germany's post-reunification relations with the Czech Republic and Poland from the perspective of a social constructivist theory of foreign policy analysis. Identifying the key actors and factors, they examine the long-standing continuity in the norms and values that underpin German foreign policy and explore the issues of borders, territory, identities, minorities and population transfers. Paying particular attention to the process of European integration and the role of the new Germany within Europe, the authors identify how new possibilities for co-operation might finally overcome legacies of the past.

This pioneering study will be of particular interest to students of European Politics and International Affairs.

Karl Cordell is Principal Lecturer in the Department of Politics, University of Plymouth, UK.

Stefan Wolff is Professor of Political Science, University of Bath, UK.

First published 2005

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

2005 Karl Cordell and Stefan Wolff

Typeset in Sabon by

Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh, Devon

Printed and bound in Great Britain by

Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Cordell, Karl, 1956

Germany's foreign policy towards Poland and the Czech Republic: Ostpolitik revisited/Karl Cordell & Stefan Wolff.

p. cm. (Routledge advances in European politics; 28)

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Germany Foreign relations Poland. 2. Germany

Foreign relations Czech Republic. I. Title: Ostpolitik revisited.

II. Wolff, Stefan, 1969 III. Title. IV. Series.

DD120.P7C67 2005

327.4304371dc22

2004024934

ISBN 0415369746

For

Jenny and Gunnel

and

Lucy and Sigrid

This book has been a truly collaborative effort and is the result of our co-operation on this inherently complex subject matter of the German question that dates back around seven years. Apart from this book, we have, individually and jointly, published a number of books and articles on this topic, and have freely drawn on previously published and published research. At the same time, this book represents a departure for both of us. In the past, our concern had been primarily with ethnic German minorities in Europe, and to a lesser extent with the German refugee and expellee communities. Only sporadically had we touched on more comprehensive assessments of the various dimensions of the German question. In following and analysing political developments over the past fifteen years, we came to realize that the German question, declared resolved by many in 1990, continued to remain a significant factor in European politics at least and in particular in Germany's relations with Poland and the Czech Republic. In this triangle of fate, we witnessed remarkable change and stagnation, continuity and innovation, as well as compromise and confrontation. In this volume we attempt to analyse its causes and consequences.