Germany Through American Eyes: Foreign Policy and Domestic Issues (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 185 with German business leaders was through hunting." It should not be too difficult for the State Department to find a willing ambassador to Germany. Germany Through American Eyes: Foreign Policy and DomesticIssues. Gale A. Mattox and John H. Vaughan, eds. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1989. 183 pp. $28.50/cloth. Reviewed by Williams S. Martin, M.A. Candidate, SAIS. The recent emigration of thousands of East Germans to West Germany, the growing clamor to reduce American expenditures for NATO, and the growing economic might of the European Community are but a few of the factors that will soon force the United States to reevaluate its German policies. These same developments may also prompt West Germany to rethink its foreign and domestíc policies. Germany Through American Eyes should help fuel the debate. This book collects the views of nine Americans who worked approximately one year in West Germany between 1984 and 1987 under the auspices of the Robert Bosch Foundation. In addition, transcripts of speeches by Theo Sommer (editor of the German daily Die Zeit) and Horst Teltschik (head of the West German Directorate-General for Foreign and Intra-German Relations) add two views of Germany through German eyes. These articles and speeches, while hardly a comprehensive survey, address some of the important issues that American and German policymakers will soon grapple with in the near future. One such issue is the question of the German nation itself. Theo Sommer, however, seeks to downplay its importance. He suggests that although reunification of East and West Germany is desirable, it is not crucial. West Germany's long-term goal should be to normalize relations with its eastern neighbor. If divisions between the two countries can be qualitatively reduced, then the question of reunification will eventually fade away. Kathryn Mack, in her essay, boldly proposes that the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) should formally recognize East Germany to promote the process of normalization. According to Mack, the legal fiction of two German states within one nation or Reich has outlived its usefulness. She believes the time has come for West Germany to complete the process of recognition begun with the 1972 Treaty on the Basis of IntraGerman Relations. In return, East Germany would recognize the Federal Republic's interests in West Berlin. Mack's proposal, however, is not bold enough. Her attempt to clarify the legal situation in West Berlin would only be a partial solution. West Berlin is not in limbo because of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), but because of the Four Powers that still rule the city: the U.S., Britain, France and the USSR. In fact, no East German step could measurably improve West Germany 's sovereignty over West Berlin. Since West Germany already enjoys defacto sovereignty in West Berlin, it should not rush to recognize its Eastern counterpart. At a minimum West Germany should demand a very high price for recognition, such as the introduction 186 SAIS REVIEW of sweeping political and/or economic reforms. Any less would simply represent another setback in intra-German relations like those described by Sandra Peterson. Peterson portrays an East Germany that is hardly an economic or political weakling. She claims that East Germany has the upper hand in intraGerman relations. KarinJohnston, in her article on the changing nature of East German foreign policy, describes how East Germany has forged an independent path despite pressure to conform to the Soviet mold and other difficulties. Some of Peterson's andJohnson's conclusions seem dated in light of recent events. For instance, Peterson's claim of East German strength may prove invalid if East Germany cannot maintain the economic growth rates of the early 1980s. Although good relations between the East and West are now taken for granted, Bonn will probably insist on political changes in return for economic concessions if internal dissent continues to grow in East Germany. In addition, it seems unlikely that any state will expand its relations with the GDR, considering the recent mass emigration of its citizens. The refugee situation has undermined East Germany's standing among its Warsaw Pact allies, particularly with Hungary and Poland. Uncertainty about future East German policy provides another reason...