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Germany: No Longer Humbled, Even More Powerful

Huso Hasanovic

The sensational return of German conservatism has marked an important era in European history. An era where Germany is going through an identity crisis but with all the caveats of an inexperienced hegemon. It remains the leader of the European project, a role significantly growing in scope and intensity. If anything, the recent elections have shown that while we have so far focused on a European Germany that we forgot that it is German first, the German people have not. There is no longer a silence about neither German exceptionalism nor its national pride. A certain segment of the population is breaking taboos and openly owning its “glorious” past. These developments beg the question- Is the German postwar transformation reversible and if so why now? Implications of such analysis are two fold- first they reinforce the notion that maximizing the power of a state’s identity is inextricably linked to a particular moment. And second, great power crises are always viewed in the context of their position in the system under which they thrive. The German question therefore is an EU question and vice versa: The EU question is a German question. In order to understand where Germany may be heading, and the EU for that matter, it is important to look at decisions and choices that guided much of its transformation that culminated in its pacifist disposition and economic prosperity for much of the late 20th and early 21st century.