A Theory for German Security Policy

The question of what shapes German security policy i.e., Germany’s use of force as an instrument of foreign policy, has puzzled scholars since German reunification. Early realist expectations of “normalization” soon gave way to constructivist approaches explaining Germany’s initially surprising security policy reluctance as informed by Germany’s “lessons of the past.” This major insight has provided cultural explanations of Germany’s security policy their impressive theoretical staying power. Although constructivism remains the dominant explanation of German foreign policy behavior it faces a dual dilemma that holds it back from further analytical insight. First, although it liberated IR analysis from the black box of the nation-state, constructivism has largely replaced it with the black box of culture, whose essentialism often defies explanation in the face of inconsistencies and contradiction.