A New Switzerland? 21st Century German Foreign Policy Reconsidered.

Seventy years ago, Germany was a country known more for conquering its neighbors than cooperating with them. But today, Germany is a country known for its economic power, not military might. Some people argue that Germany today is in fact too pacifist, too reluctant to use force even responsibly. With German reunification in 1990, a new foreign policy developed that was closely aligned with the old West German foreign policy. Both were characterized by a domestic culture driven by multilateralism and pacifism.
German foreign policy in the 1990s was defined by the prioritization of multilateralism and pacifism; does this domestic culture still guide German foreign policy today? This thesis examines the question of what has governed German foreign policy thus far in the 21st century.
In order to answer this question, the thesis develops two frameworks through which to analyze three case studies on the German decision to deploy force abroad – Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. The first framework is based on the theory of neorealism. The second framework is based on the theory of domestic politics and culture.
This thesis argues that the framework of domestic politics accurately explains 21st century German foreign policy. Neorealism does not. German foreign policy today is governed by domestic politics, which is itself governed by domestic culture. There are two critical aspects of German domestic culture today. First, Germany today prioritizes the principle of pacifism over the principle of multilateralism. Second, Germany today prioritizes pacifism over that of humanitarianism. Overall, thus far in the 21st century Germany seems to be a country that prioritizes the assurance of never-again German militarism over that of never-again German unilateralism or never-again mass international human right abuses.