Summary — Issue 01 / 2004 Joscha Schmierer: In Search of Ways through the Labyrinth National Interests between a World of States and a World Society
		After the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification there can be no question of a return to normality on the part of German foreign policy. It is much more a matter of finding answers to new challenges: since 1989 the world has been characterized by revolutionary upheavals. With the collapse of the Soviet Union the age of European empires came to an end. With the end of confrontation between power blocs, the repressive regulatory mechanism of the Cold War era has given way to new, complex power constellations and new forms of inter-state cooperation. Fundamental to the new world political situation, however, is accelerated globalization, characterized by, on the one hand, transnational worldwide economic networks constituting one world economy and, on the other, the development of an all encompassing world of states defined in terms of territorial sovereignty. Relations between these dynamics are tense, potentially destructive and, possibly, liable to heighten domestic differences and international rivalries. Globalization requires a regulatory framework. The framework provided by the United Nations, however, stands on shaky ground due to the numerous failing states and state-building processes. Moreover, clear decision-making rules and comprehensive implementation mechanisms are lacking. The “sole remaining superpower”, the USA, cannot substitute the regulatory mechanism which disappeared with the end of the bipolar bloc system. In search of a new world order the EU and the USA must pull together. Precisely because America and Europe respond differently to the question of the balance between a world of states and a world society shaped by globalization they could combine to help resolve this tense relationship. Their cooperation could establish an alliance of democracies which, within the framework of the UN, could serve as an authoritative regulatory power and defend the benefits of globalization. Determination of Germany’s fundamental foreign policy interests should part company with the pre-democratic understanding that “national interests” can be derived from the country’s geographical position or other objective considerations. At the same time, the old European view of foreign policy as a zero-sum game is outdated. It is crucial rather to forestall zero-sum logic in international relations and instead to put center-stage the connection, evident in Germany’s own recent history, between national interests and the interests of integration. If the new world order which has yet to be created is to be influenced in terms of German raison d’état a comprehensive integration policy must be developed which encompasses the domestic dimension, the European level, and the transatlantic “integration of the West”.
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