Gardner Feldman, L: Germany’s Foreign Policy of Reconciliati

By Lily Gardner Feldman

Since World War II, Germany has confronted its own history to earn acceptance in the family of nations. Lily Gardner Feldman draws on the literature of religion, philosophy, social psychology, law and political science, and history to understand Germany's foreign policy with its moral and pragmatic motivations and to develop the concept of international reconciliation. Germany's Foreign Policy of Reconciliation traces Germany's path from enmity to amity by focusing on the behavior of individual leaders, governments, and non-governmental actors. The book demonstrates that, at least in the cases of France, Israel, Poland, and Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic, Germany has gone far beyond banishing war with its former enemies; it has institutionalized active friendship. The German experience is now a model of its own, offering lessons for other cases of international reconciliation. Gardner Feldman concludes with an initial application of German reconciliation insights to the other principal post-World War II pariah, as Japan expands its relations with China and South Korea.

Chapter 1: The Narrowness and Breadth of Reconciliation in the International ArenaChapter 2: Responsibility and Realism: The Contours of German Foreign Policy as Context for External ReconciliationChapter 3: Germany's Relations with France: From Enmity to AmityChapter 4: Germany's Relations with Israel: From Abyss to MiracleChapter 5: Germany's Relations with Poland: From Community of Disputes to Close PartnershipChapter 6: Germany's Relations with the Czech Republic: From Community of Conflict to Predictable FriendshipChapter 7: Comparison and PrescriptionAppendix: Comparative Timeline of Germany's Reconciliation with France, Israel, Poland, and Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, 1945-2009Selected BibliographyInterviews