ABSTRACT
The average Social Democratic Party (SPD) member is normally more concerned with domestic issues than foreign policy. This chapter focuses on two key issues, which have preoccupied the party's policymakers for decades: Ostpolitik and defense. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) agreed with the SPD on Ostpolitik but resented being bypassed by the Foreign Ministry and the cabinet. The SPD occasionally sponsored foreign affairs conferences to generate ideas on major issues and discuss them with government leaders. Brandt as foreign minister from 1966 to 1969 made ample use of secret or private diplomacy by trusted SPD officials to establish closer links with the Soviet bloc countries. The SPD's Second Phase in Ostpolitik, controversial though it was, had an effect on the West German government's Ostpolitik. Since 1949 few issues have aroused as much passion within the SPD as defense. The party opposed West German rearmament in the early 1950s because it feared that Germany's reunification would then become impossible.
