Embracing one's archrival
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2016-08-15
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en
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Abstract
Germany’s rise as a European major power has invoked great armed conflicts
in the past. After having solved the issue of Germany by splitting it up in 1945,
the major powers decided to grant the country sovereignty as a unified state in
1990 once more. This paper analyses what the main reasons and rationale
behind the German reunification were for the four victors (France, the Soviet
Union, the United Kingdom and the United States) of World War II. A
neoliberal instutionalist and social constructivist toolset are used in order to
explain how a former archenemy could be granted full sovereignty despite
historical motives and diverging interests of participating states. The study
finds that although preferences were overall dominant in determining the
outcome of the reunification process, the norms of a German right to selfdetermination
and the spreading of democratic values have contributed
significantly in the pace and accepting of the outcome.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen