The German Predicament

The German Predicament PDF Author: Andrei S. Markovits
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
'In this novel analysis of German collective memory and its influence on the politics and foreign policy of post-1989 Germany, the authors set the stage for understanding the role of the Berlin Republic in Europe and the world in the twenty-first century.'--Norman Naimark, Stanford University

The German Predicament

The German Predicament PDF Author: Andrei S. Markovits
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Get Book Here

Book Description
'In this novel analysis of German collective memory and its influence on the politics and foreign policy of post-1989 Germany, the authors set the stage for understanding the role of the Berlin Republic in Europe and the world in the twenty-first century.'--Norman Naimark, Stanford University

The German Predicament

The German Predicament PDF Author: Andrei S. Markovits
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501732897
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
What does the unification of Germany really mean? In their stimulating exploration of that question, Andrei S. Markovits and Simon Reich sketch diametrically different interpretations than are frequently offered by commentators. One is that Germany, well aware of the Holocaust, has been 'Europeanized' and is now prepared to serve as the capitalist and democratic locomotive that powers Europe. The other is that the proclivities behind Auschwitz have been suppressed rather than obliterated from the German psyche. Germany's liberal democracy was imposed by the allied victors, according to this view, and will one day dissolve, revealing the old expansionist tendencies to try to 'Germanize' all of Europe. Markovits and Reich argue that benign contemporary assessments of Germany's postwar democracy, combined with admiration for the country's economic achievements, contribute to German influence far greater than military might was able to achieve. Yet, at the same time, some Germans have internalized liberal and pacifist principles and now see their nation as powerless, simply a larger Switzerland. As a result, while the Germans have enormous influence and latitude, they have not taken responsibility for leadership. The prime reason for this gap beween ideology and structure, Markovits and Reich suggest, lies in the politics of collective memory.

The German Predicament

The German Predicament PDF Author: Andrei S. Markovits
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801480744
Category : Europe
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
What does the unification of Germany really mean? In their stimulating exploration of that question, Andrei S. Markovits and Simon Reich sketch diametrically different interpretations that are frequently offered by commentators. One is that Germany, well aware of the Holocaust, has been "Europeanized" and is now prepared to serve as the capitalist and democratic locomotive that powers Europe. The other is that the proclivities behind Auschwitz have been suppressed rather than obliterated from the German psyche. Germany's liberal democracy was imposed by the allied victors, according to this view, and will one day dissolve, revealing the old expansionist tendencies to try to "Germanize" all of Europe. Markovits and Reich argue that benign contemporary assessments of Germany's postwar democracy, combined with admiration for the country's economic achievements, contribute to a German influence far greater than military might was able to achieve. Yet, at the same time, some Germans have internalized liberal and pacifist principles and now see their nation as powerless, simply a larger Switzerland. As a result, while the Germans have enormous influence and latitude, they have not taken responsibility for leadership. The prime reason for this gap between ideology and structure, Markovits and Reich suggest, lies in the politics of collective memory.

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.

The German Question

The German Question PDF Author: Dirk Verheyen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429974132
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
The 'German Question,' long a subject of debate, is considered here at the close of a turbulent century, after Germany's defeat in two world wars, the Weimar failure and Nazi disaster, Cold War division, and the nation's unexpected recent reunification. This book systematically explores the issue in terms of its four central dimensions: Germany's identity, national unity, power, and role in world politics. Ambitious in conception and meticulous in execution, Dirk Verheyen's wide-ranging analysis incorporates historical and geopolitical considerations in an intellectually rigorous yet accessible discussion.

The Fruits of Fascism

The Fruits of Fascism PDF Author: Simon Reich
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501732153
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
The West German "economic miracle," Simon Reich suggests, may be best understood as a result of the discriminatory economic policies of the Nazi regime. Reich contends that ideological and institutional characteristics originating under fascism were sustained despite Germany's return to democracy and heavily influenced the economic success of its automobile industry. By contrast, the liberal economic policies of the British state led in time to the decline of an industrial sector that in 1930 had closely resembled its German counterpart. Through detailed comparative histories of German and British automobile firms, Reich challenges traditional explanations of the divergent performances of the two nations' economies and sheds new light on the relationship between state policy and economic success in pre- and postwar Europe. Liberal, nondiscriminatory British policies favorable to multinational investment contributed significantly to the decline of domestic firms, he argues, so that eventually multinationals could threaten the health of the entire British economy by investing elsewhere. The Nazi state, however, thwarted the development of American subsidiaries and fostered a core of producers, government officials, bankers, and labor union leaders.

Mitteleuropa

Mitteleuropa PDF Author: Peter J. Katzenstein
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571811240
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
German unification and the political and economic transformations in central Europe signal profound political changes that pose many questions. This book offers a cautiously optimistic set of answers to these questions.

Breakdown, Breakup, Breakthrough

Breakdown, Breakup, Breakthrough PDF Author: Carl F. Lankowski
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571812117
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This volume traces the difficult passage of German society to modernity offering new perspectives on the "German question," largely characterized by the absence of key ideological underpinnings of democracy in the early modern period and a constitutional exceptionalism on the eye of the twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET.

Germany Today

Germany Today PDF Author: Christiane Lemke
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442229985
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
This book analyzes the major post-unification developments that have tested and shaped the “new Germany” from a multilevel perspective. The authors argue that domestic transformation and a heightened role in international politics are consequences, often unintended, of unification, Europeanization, and globalization. Informed by the authors’ intimate knowledge of Germany, this book offers a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of a pivotal global player at a critical economic, political, social, and environmental juncture.

The Human Predicament

The Human Predicament PDF Author: David Benatar
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190633832
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Are our lives meaningful, or meaningless? Is our inevitable death a bad thing? Would immortality be an improvement? Would it be better, all things considered, to hasten our deaths by suicide? Many people ask these big questions -- and some people are plagued by them. Surprisingly, analytic philosophers have said relatively little about these important questions about the meaning of life. When they have tackled the big questions, they have tended, like popular writers, to offer comforting, optimistic answers. The Human Predicament invites readers to take a clear-eyed and unfettered view of the human condition. David Benatar here offers a substantial, but not unmitigated, pessimism about the central questions of human existence. He argues that while our lives can have some meaning, we are ultimately the insignificant beings that we fear we might be. He maintains that the quality of life, although less bad for some than for others, leaves much to be desired in even the best cases. Worse, death is generally not a solution; in fact, it exacerbates rather than mitigates our cosmic meaninglessness. While it can release us from suffering, it imposes another cost - annihilation. This state of affairs has nuanced implications for how we should think about many things, including immortality and suicide, and how we should think about the possibility of deeper meaning in our lives. Ultimately, this thoughtful, provocative, and deeply candid treatment of life's big questions will interest anyone who has contemplated why we are here, and what the answer means for how we should live.