Not available to order
Publication date:
23 July 2012Length of book:
412 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442217102
Since World War II, Germany has confronted its own history to earn acceptance in the family of nations. Lily Gardner Feldman draws on the literature of religion, philosophy, social psychology, law and political science, and history to understand Germany's foreign policy with its moral and pragmatic motivations and to develop the concept of international reconciliation. Germany's Foreign Policy of Reconciliation traces Germany's path from enmity to amity by focusing on the behavior of individual leaders, governments, and non-governmental actors. The book demonstrates that, at least in the cases of France, Israel, Poland, and Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic, Germany has gone far beyond banishing war with its former enemies; it has institutionalized active friendship. The German experience is now a model of its own, offering lessons for other cases of international reconciliation. Gardner Feldman concludes with an initial application of German reconciliation insights to the other principal post–World War II pariah, as Japan expands its relations with China and South Korea.
A careful and thorough examination of German foreign policy between 1945–2009, focusing on the nuances of German approaches to reconciliation with Czechoslovakia, France, Israel, and Poland. Lily Gardner Feldman's trenchant analysis reveals both critical national differences and the common themes that can benefit other countries as they work to build ties after devastating conflicts. An important book for students of both ethics and politics.