The Rising Janus Germania: Innovations in German Foreign and Security Policy, EU Policy and Its National Ideas

Abstract

Germany acquired a Leitbild “Janus Germania” in which the theses of both civilian power and normal great power fuse and are transformed into a thesis of “peace restoration power with power orientation”. Such a transformation is attributed to the “fluid five-party system”, and fragmentation increased. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) became concentrated towards the centre. This movement is reflected in the SPD’s stressing of Germany’s own national interests and the transfer to the CDU/CSU of the ideas of crisis prevention and comprehensive security. Segmentation decreased, and the grand coalition normalised.