ABSTRACT
Germany must come to terms with its successes, accept its joys, and understand its newfound sorrows. Critics began to note that the new normality could easily lead to a new form of moralistic abnormality. Consciousness of Germany's "exceptionalism" was again rediscovered. Unification was accomplished through a political contract negotiated by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who achieved the apex of his political career at that moment. The political community of reunited Germany, however, remained unstable. The long-term consequences of these social adjustments and changes cannot fail to have their effect on Germany's political structures. Germany's political structure is being observed with keen interest; its role in Europe and the world is under close scrutiny. Germany is facing great opportunities and new dangers. Its most pronounced break with nineteenth- and twentieth-century German history may well lie in the possibility of the country continuing its support of integration into the supranational structures of the European Community.
