ABSTRACT
In the mid-1980s, German IR entered its third decade of institutionalized existence as a sub-discipline of political science. At that time, Ernst-Otto Czempiel gave a rather grave account of its past achievements.1 In his influential view German IR had displayed ‘not even a pale reflection of the three “great debates” on problems and methods’ (Czempiel 1986: 251) which shaped the discipline – or at least its self-image – in the Anglo-American IR community.2
