Special Issue of German Politics
The IIR Associate Researcher Vladimír Handl, along with Patricia Daehnhardt, is a co-editor of the Special Issue of German Politics titled “Germany´s Eastern Challenge: A ‘New Ostpolitik’ in the Making?” (Vol. 27, No. 4, 2018).
The main topic of the Special Issue is the German response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and the changing role of Germany in international affairs and in Europe in particular. This substantial dynamic in German policy came as a surprise not only for the Russian leadership but also for many German allies: Berlin’s reaction to the Russian action in the East of Ukraine represented a deviation from the long-term tradition of Germany’s co-operative, inclusive and trustful relationship with Russia. The Special Issue includes an analysis of the more general questions of the German role in international affairs, the German lead in the management of the Ukrainian conflict and Germany’s role in the struggle to maintain the international order. Also, other countries’ national perceptions (namely those of the US, Poland, Russia and Ukraine) of Germany’s new role add to the multifaceted picture of the German policy response to the devastating effects of the conflict in Ukraine, and this aspect is discussed in the issue as well.
Selected individual contributions to the issue are part of the IIR’s project "Germany´s Eastern Challenge: A 'Hybrid Ostpolitik' in the Making" and were supported by the IIR’s institutional funding.
They are already accessible at the website of German Politics, the whole issue will be published in print in Autumn.