Felix Berenskoetter
Welche Macht darf es denn Sein? Tracing ‘Power’ in German Foreign Policy Discourse
Berenskoetter, Felix; Stritzel, Holger
Authors
Holger Stritzel
Abstract
The relationship between ‘Germany’ and ‘power’ remains a sensitive issue. While observers tend to agree that Germany has regained the status of the most powerful country in Europe, there is debate whether that is to be welcomed or whether that is a problem. Underpinning this debate are views, both within Germany and amongst its neighbours, regarding the kind of power Germany has, or should (not) have. Against this backdrop, the article reviews the dominant role conceptions used in the expert discourse on German foreign policy since the Cold War that depict Germany as a particular type of ‘power’. Specifically, we sketch the evolution of three prominent conceptions (constrained power, civilian power, hegemonic power) and the recent emergence of a new one (shaping power). The article discusses how these labels have emerged to give meaning to Germany’s position in international relations, points to their normative and political function, and to the limited ability of such role images to tell us much about how Germany actually exercises power.
Citation
Berenskoetter, F., & Stritzel, H. (2019). Welche Macht darf es denn Sein? Tracing ‘Power’ in German Foreign Policy Discourse. German Politics, 30(1), 31-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2019.1631808
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Apr 1, 2019 |
Online Publication Date | Jul 1, 2019 |
Publication Date | Jul 1, 2019 |
Deposit Date | Jun 25, 2019 |
Publicly Available Date | Jun 25, 2019 |
Journal | German Politics |
Print ISSN | 0964-4008 |
Electronic ISSN | 1743-8993 |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis Group |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 30 |
Issue | 1 |
Pages | 31-50 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/09644008.2019.1631808 |
Related Public URLs | https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fgrp20/current |
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Copyright Statement
© 2019 Association for the Study of German Politics. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in German Politics on 01 Jul 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09644008.2019.1631808
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