Safeguarding German-American Relations in the New Century

Safeguarding German-American Relations in the New Century PDF Author: Hermann Kurthen
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739115992
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
American-German relations are in transition. A number of explanations have been given for this fact: some focusing on the personalities of politicians, some on political and attitudinal disparities, still others pointing to disagreements about foreign policy objectives since the end of the Cold War and 9/11. This volume, written by American and German scholarly experts, while not denying the relevance and validity of such explanations of the transatlantic estrangement, address the extent, resilience, and the causes of misconceptions, misunderstandings, and confrontations in the transatlantic relationship as well as highlighting commonalities and enduring ties between the U.S. and Germany. The chapters analyze domestic and foreign policies, political cultures, and compare trends in business relations, migration, culture, education, journalism, law, and religion. The authors contend that differences in political cultures, societal priorities, and national interests are inevitable, perhaps even desirable and not necessarily an obstacle to a continuous and mutually beneficial exchange or even the development of a special relationship. But first of all they need to be acknowledged, then understood, and finally dealt with in an atmosphere of mutual trust recognizing common ground. The book ends with suggestions about how to deal with different interpretations and perceptions in order to reclaim a strategic partnership for progressive changes in an increasingly multipolar world.

Safeguarding German-American Relations in the New Century

Safeguarding German-American Relations in the New Century PDF Author: Hermann Kurthen
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739115992
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book Here

Book Description
American-German relations are in transition. A number of explanations have been given for this fact: some focusing on the personalities of politicians, some on political and attitudinal disparities, still others pointing to disagreements about foreign policy objectives since the end of the Cold War and 9/11. This volume, written by American and German scholarly experts, while not denying the relevance and validity of such explanations of the transatlantic estrangement, address the extent, resilience, and the causes of misconceptions, misunderstandings, and confrontations in the transatlantic relationship as well as highlighting commonalities and enduring ties between the U.S. and Germany. The chapters analyze domestic and foreign policies, political cultures, and compare trends in business relations, migration, culture, education, journalism, law, and religion. The authors contend that differences in political cultures, societal priorities, and national interests are inevitable, perhaps even desirable and not necessarily an obstacle to a continuous and mutually beneficial exchange or even the development of a special relationship. But first of all they need to be acknowledged, then understood, and finally dealt with in an atmosphere of mutual trust recognizing common ground. The book ends with suggestions about how to deal with different interpretations and perceptions in order to reclaim a strategic partnership for progressive changes in an increasingly multipolar world.

Governance in Contemporary Germany

Governance in Contemporary Germany PDF Author: Simon Green
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521848817
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, West Germany was considered to be one of the world's most successful economic and political systems. In his seminal 1987 analysis of West Germany's 'semisovereign' system of governance, Peter Katzenstein attributed this success to a combination of a fragmented polity, consensus politics and incremental policy changes. However, unification in 1990 has both changed Germany's institutional configuration and created economic and social challenges on a huge scale. This volume therefore asks whether semisovereignty still exists in contemporary Germany and, crucially, whether it remains an asset in terms of addressing these challenges. By shadowing and building on the original study, an eminent team of British, German and American scholars analyses institutional changes and the resulting policy developments in key sectors, with Peter Katzenstein himself providing the conclusion. Together, the chapters provide a landmark assessment of the outcomes produced by one of the world's most important countries.

The German-American Encounter

The German-American Encounter PDF Author: Frank Trommler
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571812407
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
While Germans, the largest immigration group in the United States, contributed to the shaping of American society and left their mark on many areas from religion and education to food, farming, political and intellectual life, Americans have been instrumental in shaping German democracy after World War II. Both sides can claim to be part of each other's history, and yet the question arises whether this claim indicates more than a historical interlude in the forming of the Atlantic civilization. In this volume some of the leading historians, social scientists and literary scholars from both sides of the Atlantic have come together to investigate, for the first time in a broad interdisciplinary collaboration, the nexus of these interactions in view of current and future challenges to German-American relations.

Transatlantic Relations in the 21st Century

Transatlantic Relations in the 21st Century PDF Author: Erwan Lagadec
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113630195X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
This book offers an overview of the interface between European integration, transatlantic relations, and the 'rise of the rest' in the early 21st century. The collapse of the Soviet bloc opened up an era in which the drivers and perceived benefits of the US alliance among European countries have become more variegated and shifting. The proposition that the US remains at once an 'indispensable' and 'intolerable' nation in Europe is a key concept in the alliance, as the US remains inextricably tied to the continent through economic, military and cultural links. This work examines this complex subject area from many angles, including an analysis of the historical and cultural contexts of America’s relations with Europe, as well as a discussion of the politics of transatlantic affairs which utilises evidence gleaned from a series of case-studies. In the concluding chapters, the author assesses the likelihood that the West can entrench its global dominance in the realms of "soft" and "hard" power, and by effecting a "controlled reform" that will see multilateral structures open up to emerging powers. This book will be of great interest to students of European Politics, EU integration, transatlantic relations, US foreign policy/diplomacy, International Security and IR in general.

America and the Intellectual Cold Wars in Europe

America and the Intellectual Cold Wars in Europe PDF Author: Volker R. Berghahn
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691186189
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
In 1958, Shepard Stone, then directing the Ford Foundation's International Affairs program, suggested that his staff "measure" America's cultural impact in Europe. He wanted to determine whether efforts to improve opinions of American culture were yielding good returns. Taking Stone's career as a point of departure and frequent return, Volker Berghahn examines the triangular relationship between the producers of ideas and ideologies, corporate America, and Washington policymakers at a peculiar juncture of U.S. history. He also looks across the Atlantic, at the Western European intellectuals, politicians, and businessmen with whom these Americans were in frequent contact. While shattered materially and psychologically by World War II, educated Europeans did not shed their opinions about the inferiority, vulgarity, and commercialism of American culture. American elites--particularly the East Coast establishment--deeply resented this condescension. They believed that the United States had two culture wars to win: one against the Soviet Bloc as part of the larger struggle against communism and the other against deeply rooted negative views of America as a civilization. To triumph, they spent large sums of money on overt and covert activities, from tours of American orchestras to the often secret funding of European publications and intellectual congresses by the CIA. At the center of these activities were the Ford Foundation, the Congress for Cultural Freedom, and Washington's agents of cultural diplomacy. This was a world of Ivy League academics and East Coast intellectuals, of American philanthropic organizations and their backers in big business, of U.S. government agencies and their counterparts across the Atlantic. This book uses Shepard Stone as a window to this world in which the European-American relationship was hammered out in cultural terms--an arena where many of the twentieth century's major intellectual trends and conflicts unfolded.

Never Again

Never Again PDF Author: Andrew I. Port
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674275225
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
What do Germans mean when they say “never again”? Andrew Port examines German responses to the genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, and Rwanda, showing how these events transformed the meaning of the Holocaust in Germany, inspired partial remilitarization, and changed the country’s relationship to refugees fleeing war-torn regions.

The Oxford Handbook of German Politics

The Oxford Handbook of German Politics PDF Author: Klaus Larres
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019254943X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 721

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Book Description
Few countries have caused or experienced more calamities in the 20th century than Germany. The country emerged from the Cold War as a newly united and sovereign state, eventually becoming Europe's indispensable partner for all major domestic and foreign policy initiatives. This handbook provides a comprehensive overview of some of the major issues of German domestic politics, economics, foreign policy, and culture by leading experts in their respective fields. This book serves primarily as a reference work on Germany for scholars and an interested public, but through this broader lens it also provides a magnifying glass of global developments which are challenging and transforming the modern state. The growing importance of Germany as a political actor and economic partner makes this endeavor all the more timely and pertinent from a German, European, and global perspective.

Remembering the Space Age

Remembering the Space Age PDF Author: Steven J. Dick
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Astronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 486

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Book Description
From the Publisher: Proceedings of October 2007 conference, sponsored by the NASA History Division and the National Air and Space Museum, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch in October 1957 and the dawn of the space age.

Embattled Europe

Embattled Europe PDF Author: Konrad H. Jarausch
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691225532
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
A bracing corrective to predictions of the European Union’s decline, by a leading historian of modern Europe Is the European Union in decline? Recent history, from the debt and migration crises to Brexit, has led many observers to argue that the EU’s best days are behind it. Over the past decade, right-wing populists have come to power in Poland, Hungary, and beyond—many of them winning elections using strident anti-EU rhetoric. At the same time, Russia poses a continuing military threat, and the rise of Asia has challenged the EU's economic power. But in Embattled Europe, renowned European historian Konrad Jarausch counters the prevailing pessimistic narrative of European obsolescence with a rousing yet realistic defense of the continent—one grounded in a fresh account of its post–1989 history and an intimate understanding of its twentieth-century horrors. An engaging narrative and probing analysis, Embattled Europe tells the story of how the EU emerged as a model of democratic governance and balanced economic growth, adapting to changing times while retaining its value system. The book describes the EU’s admirable approach to the environment, social welfare, immigration, and global competitiveness. And it presents underappreciated European success stories—including Denmark’s transition to a green economy, Sweden’s restructuring of its welfare state, and Poland’s economic miracle. Embattled Europe makes a powerful case that Europe—with its peaceful foreign policy, social welfare solidarity, and environmental protection—offers the best progressive alternative to the military adventurism and rampant inequality of plutocratic capitalism and right-wing authoritarianism.

Out of Ashes

Out of Ashes PDF Author: Konrad H. Jarausch
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400883474
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 887

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Book Description
A sweeping history of twentieth-century Europe that examines its unprecedented destruction—and abiding promise A sweeping history of twentieth-century Europe, Out of Ashes tells the story of an era of unparalleled violence and barbarity yet also of humanity, prosperity, and promise. Konrad Jarausch describes how the European nations emerged from the nineteenth century with high hopes for continued material progress and proud of their imperial command over the globe, only to become embroiled in the bloodshed of World War I, which brought an end to their optimism and gave rise to competing democratic, communist, and fascist ideologies. He shows how the 1920s witnessed renewed hope and a flourishing of modernist art and literature, but how the decade ended in economic collapse and gave rise to a second, more devastating world war and genocide on an unprecedented scale. Jarausch further explores how Western Europe surprisingly recovered due to American help and political integration. Finally, he examines how the Cold War pushed the divided continent to the brink of nuclear annihilation, and how the unforeseen triumph of liberal capitalism came to be threatened by Islamic fundamentalism, global economic crisis, and an uncertain future. A gripping narrative, Out of Ashes explores the paradox of the European encounter with modernity in the twentieth century, shedding new light on why it led to cataclysm, inhumanity, and self-destruction, but also social justice, democracy, and peace.