The constructivist analysis of Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik

Year 2023, Volume: 16 Issue: 3, 708 - 726, 31.07.2023

Şeyda Güdek-gölçek

https://doi.org/10.25287/ohuiibf.1238297

Abstract

Ostpolitik, implemented between 1969 and 1974 when Willy Brandt was the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is an excellent example of the constructivist approach in International Relations. Ostpolitik developed an alternative approach to the realist logic of the Cold War based on power, security, and competition. Basic concepts and elements such as norm, identity, and the agent-structure interaction that constructivism uses to understand and explain international relations are seen in Ostpolitik’s theory and practice. The norms of peace and reconciliation that shape the theoretical content of Ostpolitik and the principle of “change through rapprochement” are compatible with the constructivist perspective. It is understood that Brandt’s Ostpolitik aimed to construct an identity that would change states’ threat perceptions and create a suitable environment for the socialization of actors. In practice, it is seen that policy-making actors acted with the logic of appropriateness according to Ostpolitik principles and norms. By emphasizing the social aspects and values of the actors within the framework of Ostpolitik, changes were experienced in the foreign policy practices of the Federal Republic of Germany and the actors that were the target of the practices. Visits, negotiations, and agreements were made with the Eastern Bloc State to develop relations based on identities of good neighborhoods or friends. On the other hand, the effect of Ostpolitik on the unification of Germany and detente bears traces of the agent-structure interaction, which is one of the main motivations of constructivism. Ostpolitik’s practice also provides an explanation of constructivism through a case study by being consistent with the theory’s value-based action logic.

Keywords

Willy Brandt, Ostpolitik, norm, identity, peace, reconciliation

Willy Brandt’in Ostpolitikası'nın inşacı analizi

Abstract

Willy Brandt’ın Federal Almanya Cumhuriyeti’nin şansölyesi olduğu 1969-1974 yılları arasında uygulanan Ostpolitika, Uluslararası İlişkiler’de inşacı yaklaşıma iyi bir örnek oluşturmaktadır. Ostpolitika, Soğuk Savaş’ın güç, güvenlik ve rekabet temelli realist mantığına alternatif bir yaklaşım geliştirmiştir. İnşacılığın uluslararası ilişkileri anlama ve açıklamada kullandığı norm, kimlik ve yapı-yapan etkileşimi gibi temel kavram ve unsurlar, Ostpolitika teorisinde ve uygulamasında açıkça görülmektedir. Ostpolitika’nın teorik içeriğini şekillendiren barış ve uzlaşma normları ile “yakınlaşma ile değişim” ilkesi inşacılık perspektifine uyum göstermektedir. Brandt’ın Ostpolitika’sının devletlerin tehdit algılamalarını değiştirecek olan bir kimlik inşasını ve aktörlerin sosyalleşmeleri için uygun ortamın oluşturulmasını hedeflendiği anlaşılmaktadır. Uygulamada ise politika yapıcı aktörlerin Ostpolitika ilke ve normlarına göre uygunluk/yerindelik mantığıyla hareket ettikleri görülmektedir. Ostpolitika çerçevesinde aktörlerin sosyal yönlerine ve değerlere vurgu yapılarak, Federal Almanya Cumhuriyeti’nin dış politika uygulamalarında ve uygulamaların hedefi olan aktörlerde değişiklikler yaşanmıştır. Doğu Bloğu devletleriyle iyi komşuluk ya da dost kimliğine dayanan ilişkilerin geliştirilmesi için ziyaretler, görüşmeler ve antlaşmalar yapılmıştır. Bununla birlikte, Ostpolitika’nın Almanya’nın birleşmesi ve yumuşama üzerindeki etkisi ise inşacılığın temel motivasyonlarından biri olan yapı-yapan etkileşiminin izlerini taşımaktadır. Ostpolitika pratiği de teorinin değer temelli hareket mantığıyla tutarlılık göstererek, inşacılığın örnek bir olay üzerinden açıklamasını sağlamaktadır.

Keywords

Willy Brandt, Ostpolitika, inşacılık, norm, kimlik, barış, uzlaşma

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