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A Changing Germany: What It Means
| Article
# : |
17237 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1990 |
2,491 Words |
| Author
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Werner Kaltefleiter
Werner Kaltefleiter is director of the Institute of Political
Science at Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel, West
Germany. |
The opening of the inner German border stimulated much speculation in East and West regarding the prospects of German reunification. Television scenes of hundreds of thousands of East Germans traveling to the West have already led to a reunification of the German people. The question now is whether reunification of the German nation is also on the agenda.
All of these speculations overlook the fact that for more than 30 years the objective of West German policy has not been reunification but self-determination for all German people in accordance with the UN Charter. This was a prudent policy for two reasons.
First, the demand for self-determination based on the UN Charter is much more convincing than the request for reunification. Against the latter, it could always be argued that the division of Germany is a result of World War II and any change of this postwar European order would endanger peace. If, however, self-determination for all Germans were achieved and then the two Germanys freely decided in favor of reunification, no democratic country would object.
These considerations have not been changed by recent developments in Eastern Europe. The main objective of German policy is the right to self-determination for the people in East Germany, but it remains an open question whether - and, if so, when - this right can be achieved.
To understand the present situation, one first must consider the Soviet scene. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, he quickly realized that the Soviet system could no longer provide the means for the USSR to
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