ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part explores the Italian political scientist Ubaldo Villani-Lubelli relates how Germany itself during and after reunification dealt with this problem of finding its new place in Europe and the world, and how others reacted to this. It examines German historian Christian Wicke confronts the twisted problem of Germany's national identity that ties these issues of political culture together. The part shows how social problems resulted in domestic constraints on German foreign policy and threatened to undermine the values underpinning Germany's distinct foreign policy culture. Much of what happened regarding Germany's foreign policy and international position after 1990 deeply questioned the certainties of neorealist thought and confirmed the constructivist view. When the Soviet Empire in Europe crumbled and Germany reunified, old anxieties revived, and the solutions that kept them in check seemed doomed.
