German Foreign Policy and the Shadow of the Past

In recent years, German foreign policy decision makers have employed a more "self-confident" rhetoric, and some observers have concluded that Germany displays signs of a less-inhibited or even more "assertive" policy in European and international affairs. Has Germany finally left the shadow of its past behind in order to pursue its own way? Focusing on the country's recent policies towards Euro-Atlantic security institutions, military deployments and the quest for a permanent seat in the U.N. Security Council, the author concludes that evidence does not point in this direction.