German Foreign Policy

This chapter takes stock of Germany’s foreign policy since unification. Starting with the country’s general foreign policy orientation toward multilateralism, European integration, and transatlanticism, the chapter reviews developments in defense and security policy, development policy, bilateral relations, as well as EU, multilateral, and niche diplomacy. The chapter concludes that, across the areas considered, Germany’s foreign policy since 1990 has been characterized by continuity rather than change. This is not to imply that there has been no change, but the changes that occurred have been incremental adjustments rather than abrupt policy turns. This also mirrors earlier analyses of German foreign policy since unification. However, like other Western democracies, Germany’s domestic politics are undergoing changes—most of all in the party system, which has shifted from a system of “two-and-a-half” parties until the 1990s, to a Bundestag that currently holds six parties. This new party system means that government formation has become more complicated, as witnessed after the general elections of 2017, where the process to establish a new government took an unprecedented 171 days. Ultimately, these changes in the party system may also affect the conduct of foreign policy, though it is too early to make predictions about potential future changes.