Collective memory in Germany and the great foreign policy debate: the case of the European refugee crisis

Abstract

Embedded within the wider normalization–continuity debate about the nature of Germany’s actorness, this article assesses the impact of collective memory on German foreign policy during the European refugee crisis. The Federal Republic’s open-door policy in autumn 2015 bewildered many observers who saw it as a self-harming act of charity. Based on a three-stage empirical framework, the article argues that Germany’s initial behaviour cannot be understood without accounting for the influence that collective memory still exerts in Germany today. The open-door policy was irreconcilable with Germany’s immediate material interests, but instead shaped by collective memory-inspired humanitarian and European principles. This conclusion challenges the growing consensus among students of German foreign policy that Germany is becoming a normal actor which has freed itself from the constraints of the past and behaves in congruence with its material interests. This article seeks to make a timely contribution to the knowledge about collective memory in international relations, Germany’s foreign policy in the specific as well as wider context, and the dynamics of the European refugee crisis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

*The author would like to thank Mateja Peter, Bernhard Blumenau and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on earlier drafts of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leonard August Schuette

Leonard August Schuette holds a graduate degree from Cambridge University’s Department of Politics and International Studies. He is currently Clara Marina O’Donnell Fellow at the Centre for European Reform (2018–2019). The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for European Reform. Email: [email protected]