SOCIETY: German-American Societal Relations in Three Dimensions, 1968-1990

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Since 1990, the societal aspect of German-American relations has emerged as a central focus of the partnership, providing potentially the new “glue” to replace the security connection that bound the two states inextricably during the Cold War. President Bill Clinton, for example, emphasized in July 1994 that:

For fifty years, Americans and Berliners have forged the bonds of friendship. Even though our American military will soon leave Berlin, America's ties will continue - through the rest of our troops in Germany; through thousands of American civilians, businessmen, students and artists who will remain and who will contribute to your life and prosperity.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl spoke the same language: “For decades we talked about the transatlantic bridge ensuring our security. We know today that we have to add a couple of components to that bridge. We have to add the components of economic cooperation, cooperation in the cultural area and cooperation in the area of bringing our young people close together.” Think tanks in both Germany and the United States, including the Carnegie Endowment, the Atlantic Council, and the German Society for Foreign Affairs, have accorded a similar priority to societal factors in analyses of post-unification international relations.

Whereas the first assumption about the primacy of security during the Cold War is clearly correct, the second assumption about the relative absence or quiescence of societal connections between Germany and the United States appears false. partnership.