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The constructivist analysis of Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik

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

References

  • Adler, E. (2013). Constructivism in International Relations: Sources, contributions, and debates. In Carlsnaes, W., Risse, T. & Simmons, B. A. (Eds). Handbook of international relations (112–144). London: SAGE.
  • Bange, O. (2019). Conceptualizing “common security”: Willy Brandt’s vision of trans-bloc security and its international perception, 1981–1990. In B. Rother & K. Larres (Eds.), Willy Brandt and international relations: Europe, USA, and Latin America, 1974-1992 (pp. 143–162). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Binder, D. (1972). Accords on Berlin Signed, Opening New Era for City. The New York Times, June 4, 1972. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/04/archives/accords-on-berlin-signed-opening-new-era-for-city-four-powers-sign.html.
  • Binder, D. (1975). The other German: Willy Brandt’s life & times. Washington: New Republic Book.
  • Boekle, H., Rittberger, V. & Wagner, W. (2001). Constructivist foreign policy theory. In V. Rittgerber (Ed.), German foreign policy since unification: Theories and case studies (pp. 105–140). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Bozo, F. (2010). France, “Gaullism,” and the Cold War. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and Detente (pp. 158–178). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brandt, W. (1978). People and politics: The years 1960–1975. (Trans. M. Brownjohn). Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
  • Brandt, W. (1992). My life in politics. (Trans. A. Bell). New York: Viking.
  • Carr, W. (1989). German social democracy since 1945. In R. Fletcher (Ed.), A short history of German social democracy (pp. 193–202). London: Edward Arnold.
  • Cordell, K. & Wolff, S. (2007). A foreign policy analysis of the “German Question”: Ostpolitik revisited. Foreign Policy Analysis, 3(3), 255–271. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-8594.2007.00050.x
  • Dessler, D. (1989). What’s at stake in the agent-structure debate?. International Organization, 43(3), 441–473. doi: 10.1017/S0020818300032999
  • Fine, C. & Schaffer, B. (2009). Introduction. In C. Fine & B. Schaffer (Eds.), Ostpolitik and the World, 1969-1974: European and Global Responses (pp. 1–10). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Finnemore, M. & Sikkink, K. (1998). International norm dynamics and political change. International Organization, 52(04), 887–917. doi: 10.1162/002081898550789
  • Gaddis, J. L. (2005). The Cold War. London: Penguin Books.
  • Hanhimäki, J. M. (2007). Searching for a balance: the American perspective. In N. P. Ludlow (Ed.), European Integration and the Cold War: Ostpolitik–Westpolitik, 1965-1973 (pp. 152–173). New York: Routledge.
  • Hanhimäki, J. M. (2010). Détente in Europe: 1962-1975. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and detente (pp. 198–218). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hanrieder, W. F. & Auton, G. P. (1980). The foreign policies of West Germany, France and Britain, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
  • Hoffman, A. (2007). The emergence of détente in Europe: Brandt, Kennedy and the formation of Ostpolitik. New York: Routledge.
  • Juneau, J. F. (2011). The limits of linkage: The Nixon administration and Willy Brandt’s “Ostpolitik”, 1969–72. The International History Review, 33(2), 277–297. doi: 10.1080/07075332.2011.555447
  • Karadağ, C. T. (2015). Almanya’nın yeni doğu politikası: “Ostpolitik” (1969-1974). (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Ege Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İzmir.
  • Katzenstein, P. J., Keohane, R. O. & Krasner, S. D. (1998). International organization and the study of World politics. International Organization, 54(4), 645-685. doi:10.1017/S002081830003558X
  • Kemp-Welch, A. (2010). Eastern Europe: Stalinism to Solidarity. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and Detente (pp. 219–237). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kleuters, J. (2009). Between continuity and change: Ostpolitik and the constructivist approach revisited. German Politics, 18(4), 519–535. doi: 10.1080/09644000903349424
  • Ludlow, N. P. (2010). European integration and the Cold War. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and Detente (pp. 179–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • March, J. G. & Olsen, J. P. (1998). The institutional dynamics of international political orders. International Organizations, 52(4), 943–969. doi: 10.1162/002081898550699
  • Marshall, B. (1997). Willy Brandt: A political biography. London: Macmillan.
  • Mastny, V. (2010). Soviet foreign policy, 1953-1962. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Origins (pp. 312–333). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mock, H. (2019). A Post-national Europe: Brandt’s vision for the European In B. Rother & K. Larres (Eds.), Willy Brandt and international relations: Europe, USA, and Latin America, 1974-1992 (pp. 87–108). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
  • National Defense University. (1976). Willy Brandt and Ostpolitik. Report Documentation Page: The International Setting. Retrieved from https://neue-entspannungspolitik.berlin/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1998-Willy-Brandt-and-Ostpolitik-National-War-College-Fort-McNair-in-Washington-.pdf.

Willy Brandt’in Ostpolitikası'nın inşacı analizi

Year 2023, Volume: 16 Issue: 3, 708 - 726, 31.07.2023
https://doi.org/10.25287/ohuiibf.1238297

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.

References

  • Adler, E. (2013). Constructivism in International Relations: Sources, contributions, and debates. In Carlsnaes, W., Risse, T. & Simmons, B. A. (Eds). Handbook of international relations (112–144). London: SAGE.
  • Bange, O. (2019). Conceptualizing “common security”: Willy Brandt’s vision of trans-bloc security and its international perception, 1981–1990. In B. Rother & K. Larres (Eds.), Willy Brandt and international relations: Europe, USA, and Latin America, 1974-1992 (pp. 143–162). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Binder, D. (1972). Accords on Berlin Signed, Opening New Era for City. The New York Times, June 4, 1972. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1972/06/04/archives/accords-on-berlin-signed-opening-new-era-for-city-four-powers-sign.html.
  • Binder, D. (1975). The other German: Willy Brandt’s life & times. Washington: New Republic Book.
  • Boekle, H., Rittberger, V. & Wagner, W. (2001). Constructivist foreign policy theory. In V. Rittgerber (Ed.), German foreign policy since unification: Theories and case studies (pp. 105–140). Manchester: Manchester University Press.
  • Bozo, F. (2010). France, “Gaullism,” and the Cold War. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and Detente (pp. 158–178). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Brandt, W. (1978). People and politics: The years 1960–1975. (Trans. M. Brownjohn). Boston: Little, Brown and Company.
  • Brandt, W. (1992). My life in politics. (Trans. A. Bell). New York: Viking.
  • Carr, W. (1989). German social democracy since 1945. In R. Fletcher (Ed.), A short history of German social democracy (pp. 193–202). London: Edward Arnold.
  • Cordell, K. & Wolff, S. (2007). A foreign policy analysis of the “German Question”: Ostpolitik revisited. Foreign Policy Analysis, 3(3), 255–271. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-8594.2007.00050.x
  • Dessler, D. (1989). What’s at stake in the agent-structure debate?. International Organization, 43(3), 441–473. doi: 10.1017/S0020818300032999
  • Fine, C. & Schaffer, B. (2009). Introduction. In C. Fine & B. Schaffer (Eds.), Ostpolitik and the World, 1969-1974: European and Global Responses (pp. 1–10). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Finnemore, M. & Sikkink, K. (1998). International norm dynamics and political change. International Organization, 52(04), 887–917. doi: 10.1162/002081898550789
  • Gaddis, J. L. (2005). The Cold War. London: Penguin Books.
  • Hanhimäki, J. M. (2007). Searching for a balance: the American perspective. In N. P. Ludlow (Ed.), European Integration and the Cold War: Ostpolitik–Westpolitik, 1965-1973 (pp. 152–173). New York: Routledge.
  • Hanhimäki, J. M. (2010). Détente in Europe: 1962-1975. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and detente (pp. 198–218). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hanrieder, W. F. & Auton, G. P. (1980). The foreign policies of West Germany, France and Britain, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
  • Hoffman, A. (2007). The emergence of détente in Europe: Brandt, Kennedy and the formation of Ostpolitik. New York: Routledge.
  • Juneau, J. F. (2011). The limits of linkage: The Nixon administration and Willy Brandt’s “Ostpolitik”, 1969–72. The International History Review, 33(2), 277–297. doi: 10.1080/07075332.2011.555447
  • Karadağ, C. T. (2015). Almanya’nın yeni doğu politikası: “Ostpolitik” (1969-1974). (Yayımlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Ege Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İzmir.
  • Katzenstein, P. J., Keohane, R. O. & Krasner, S. D. (1998). International organization and the study of World politics. International Organization, 54(4), 645-685. doi:10.1017/S002081830003558X
  • Kemp-Welch, A. (2010). Eastern Europe: Stalinism to Solidarity. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and Detente (pp. 219–237). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kleuters, J. (2009). Between continuity and change: Ostpolitik and the constructivist approach revisited. German Politics, 18(4), 519–535. doi: 10.1080/09644000903349424
  • Ludlow, N. P. (2010). European integration and the Cold War. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Crises and Detente (pp. 179–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • March, J. G. & Olsen, J. P. (1998). The institutional dynamics of international political orders. International Organizations, 52(4), 943–969. doi: 10.1162/002081898550699
  • Marshall, B. (1997). Willy Brandt: A political biography. London: Macmillan.
  • Mastny, V. (2010). Soviet foreign policy, 1953-1962. In M. P. Leffler & O. A. Westad (Eds.), The Cambridge history of the Cold War: Origins (pp. 312–333). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Mock, H. (2019). A Post-national Europe: Brandt’s vision for the European In B. Rother & K. Larres (Eds.), Willy Brandt and international relations: Europe, USA, and Latin America, 1974-1992 (pp. 87–108). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
  • National Defense University. (1976). Willy Brandt and Ostpolitik. Report Documentation Page: The International Setting. Retrieved from https://neue-entspannungspolitik.berlin/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1998-Willy-Brandt-and-Ostpolitik-National-War-College-Fort-McNair-in-Washington-.pdf.
There are 29 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language Turkish
Subjects International Relations
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Şeyda Güdek-gölçek 0000-0001-8753-2998

Publication Date July 31, 2023
Submission Date January 18, 2023
Acceptance Date July 17, 2023
Published in Issue Year 2023 Volume: 16 Issue: 3

Cite

APA Güdek-gölçek, Ş. (2023). Willy Brandt’in Ostpolitikası’nın inşacı analizi. Ömer Halisdemir Üniversitesi İktisadi Ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi, 16(3), 708-726. https://doi.org/10.25287/ohuiibf.1238297

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