Germany And The Baltic Problem After The Cold War

Description:
The dramatic results of the Cold War's denouement in 1989-91 were a unified Germany at the heart of Europe. With this came new expectations about a sovereign Germany, and also a revival of old fears about German power. The root question this book addresses is how the new Germany will use its re-found status as a great power. Does Germany - as in the past - aim to dominate Europe? Or has it renounced its imperial ambitions following the trauma of division during the Cold War? In seeking answers to these questions, Kristina Spohr Readman scrutinises the development of Germany's new Ostpolitik (eastern policy) in the period 1989-2000. Against the background of recent European history, she analyses the re-establishment of a special relationship between Bonn/Berlin and Moscow. In particular, she assesses the peculiar geopolitical situation of the Baltic states: caught between a turbulent Russia in the east and a unified Germany in the west. The Baltic case reveals the complexities of a post-Cold War European security architecture in the making. For a work of contemporary history, this book makes use of an unusually rich range of sources, being based on numerous confidential interviews with key political actors and on unprecedented access to still classified material, as well as drawing on a vast memoir literature. The book will be essential reading for all serious students of contemporary German history and politics.

Table of Contents:
1. Germany and the Baltics in the Cold War Endgame, 1989-1991 2. German Questions Past and Present 3. Unified Germany's West(europa)politik in a 'Time Which As Yet Has No Name' 4. Germany and Russia Reborn: Back to the future? 5. The Baltic States: A gauge of Germany's new Ostpolitik and European security 6. Conclusion