Between a Rock and a Hard Place? Navigating Domestic and International Expectations on German Foreign Policy

Abstract

This article takes stock of German foreign policy during Angela Merkel's third term in office (2013–17). It argues that the longer-term significance of Germany's foreign policy during this period is twofold. First, the Merkel government was confronted with multiple European and international crises which worked as a magnifying glass for the growing international expectations on Germany to become more actively engaged on the international stage. Second, the tenure of the Grand Coalition saw a significant shift in the German domestic foreign policy discourse that was marked by a concerted effort of leading decision-makers to make the case for Germany to accept greater international responsibilities. This emerging consensus among foreign policy elites expresses a changed self-conception of German foreign policy which, however, continues to be viewed with scepticism in the broader public. Informed by such a broad two-level perspective that focuses on the interplay between international and domestic expectations on German foreign policy, the article explores the record of the Grand Coalition in the main international crises it had to engage with. It suggests that the Merkel government was better able to live up to its own aspirations in two-level contexts which left it with greater domestic room for manoeuvre.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kai Oppermann is professor of politics at the University of Sussex, UK. His research centres on the domestic sources of foreign policy and international politics with a particular focus on British and German foreign policy. He won a Marie Curie Fellowship for a project on European integration referendums in 2010/11. His work has been published in journals such as European Journal of International Relations, West European Politics, Foreign Policy Analysis, British Journal of Politics and International Relations and Journal of International Relations and Development. He is the co-author of a German-language book on the theories of foreign policy (2014) and has co-edited a special issue in the Journal of European Public Policy on fiascos in foreign and public policy (2016).

Notes

1 Interviews with members of the German Bundestag from CDU/CSU, SPD and the Left Party in June 2017.