Study on German Foreign Policy: 1998-2009

Since the 1950s, self-limitation and multilateralism have played the central role in Germany foreign policy. These characters helped Germany get back to the international society and achieved the goal of reunification. The main architects of the German reunification, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, understood the threaten that an unified Germany might bring to its neighbor countries and insisted to show the continuity of Germany foreign policy after the Second World War.
On 27 October 1998, the charisma leader of SPD, Gerhard Schröder, won the election and formed SPD-Green coalition. Followed is the different style of Germany’s foreign policy: Germany start to pursue its international status, try to become an influential player in the world politics. Therefore, the continuity of Germany’s foreign policy also faced the suspicious from all parties.
In 2005, Angela Merkel replaced Schröder, became the first female chancellor in the Germany history and led the grand coalition which was composed of SPD, CDU and CSU. Her East Germany origin and the physic background make her quite differ from her predecessor. And her flexible diplomacy skills also impressed the world. Germany’s foreign policy revealed variety between two chancellors. However, traditional discussions of “German question” still haven’t got a clear answer. This thesis trying to compare the foreign policy between chancellor Schröder and Merkel through observe Germany’s diplomacy trajectory from 1998 to 2009. This thesis expect to help people realize Germany’s foreign policy more comprehensively base on such observation.