Specifics of national identity in the rhetoric of the German leadership (from speeches at the Munich security conference (2014-2022)

Specifics of national identity in the rhetoric of the German leadership (from speeches at the Munich security conference (2014-2022)



Article received: 2023.02.27. Accepted: 2023.04.25


DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2023.04.08
EDN: KKRROM


For citation:

Sokolov A.P., Davydov A.D., Belikov V.V., Sigova A.A. Specifics of national identity in the rhetoric of the German leadership (from speeches at the Munich security conference (2014-2022). – Polis. Political Studies. 2023. No. 4. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2023.04.08. EDN: KKRROM


The study was supported by the MGIMO University, the grant no. KMU 12/08.


Abstract

The article deals with the specific features of the national identity in the rhetoric of German politicians by analyzing their speeches at the Munich Security Conference in 2014-2022. National identity has a significant impact on understanding a state’s place in the world and on the formation of its foreign policy. The authors’ aim is to examine the speeches of German politicians at the Munich Conference and identify the views of the political establishment on the country’s place and role in world politics, its foreign policy values and interests, and also the ways and factors of changing German national identity. The study used methods of quantitative and qualitative content analysis, which showed that the most important concept that defines the rhetoric about the national identity of Germany is “responsibility”. The authors note that a significant element of national identity in the rhetoric of German politicians is the Nazi past. In their speeches at the Conference, German politicians argue that Germany has completely overcome the tragic experience of the National Socialist dictatorship, which, according to them, provides the FGR with the moral right to pursue an active foreign policy and determines the adherence of the German political mainstream to Western values. The authors conclude that today the German national identity is closely connected with the identity of the European Union and the West as a whole, which leads to the erosion of its national identity, as well as to the compulsory prioritizing of allied obligations over national interests. Because of this, the German leadership may make decisions that are not typical of German strategic culture and contradict the opinions of voters. The conclusions of the article suggest that the approach of the country’s politicians, which puts European and transatlantic interests ahead of national ones, will not change in the near future. 

Keywords
Germany, national identity, German foreign policy, Munich Security Conference, multilateralism, EU, NATO.


References

Arnold, R. (2006). Die Diskussion über das neue Weißbuch. Recht und Politik, 42(3), 136-139. https://doi.org/10.3790/rup.42.3.136

Blank, T., & Schmidt, P. (2003). National identity in a united Germany: nationalism or patriotism? An empirical test with representative data. Political Psychology, 24, 289-312. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00329

Bloom, W. (1990). Personal identity, national identity and international relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511558955

Campbell, D. (1998). Writing security: United States foreign policy and the politics of identity. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Checkel, J.T. (1999). Norms, institutions, and national identity in contemporary Europe. International Studies Quarterly, 43(1), 83-114. https://doi.org/10.1111/0020-8833.00112

Froltsov, V.V. (2018). Russia, Ukraine, Belarus in the program documents of the three governments of Angela Merkel (2005-2017). Belarus State University Journal. International Relations, 1, 3-9.

Gaskarth, J., & Oppermann, K. (2021). Clashing traditions: German foreign policy in a New Era. International Studies Perspectives, 22(1), 84-105. https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/ekz017

Hellmann, G., Wagner, W., & Baumann, R. (2014). Die Bedeutung von politischer Kultur und nationaler Identität für die deutsche Außenpolitik. In Deutsche Außenpolitik (pp. 193-212). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-05022-1_11

Hopf, T. (2012). Reconstructing the Cold War: the early years, 1945-1958. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199858484.001.0001

Hyde-Price, A. (2015). The “sleep-walking giant” awakes: resetting German foreign and security policy. European Security, 24(4), 600-616. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2015.1065484

Katzenstein, P.J. (1996). The Culture of national security: norms and identity in world politics. New York: Columbia University Press.

Klein, M. (2014). Die nationale Identität der Deutschen Commitment, Grenzkonstruktionen und Werte zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-04015-4_2

Kurthen, H. (1995). Germany at the crossroads: national identity and the challenges of immigration. The International Migration Review, 4, 914-938. https://doi.org/10.2307/2547732

Lebow, R.N. (2008). Identity and international relations. International Relations, 22(4), 473-492. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047117808097312

Leithner, A. (2008). Shaping German foreign policy: history, memory, and national interest. FirstForumPress. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781626374959

Mader, M. (2016). Stabilität und Wandel der nationalen Identität in der deutschen Bevölkerung. KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, 68, 435-456. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11577-016-0370-9

Maull, H.W. (2002). Nationale Identität und kollektive Handlungsfähigkeit Europas in der Weltpolitik. In Joerißen, Britta/Stahl, Bernhard (Hrsg.) Europäische Außenpolitik und nationale Identität (p. vi).

Meulemann, H. (1998). Werte und nationale Identität im vereinten Deutschland: Erklärungsansätze der Umfrageforschung. Springer-Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-322-97426-6

Mommsen, H. (1983). History and National Identity: The Case of Germany. German Studies Review, 3, 559-582. https://doi.org/10.2307/1429761

Neumann, I.B. (1996). Self and Other in international relations. European Journal of International Relations, 2, 139-174. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066196002002001

Pautz, H. (2005). The politics of identity in Germany: the Leitkultur debate. Race & Class, 46(4), 39-52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396805052517

Piwoni, E. (2012). Nationale Identität im Wandel Deutscher Intellektuellendiskurs zwischen Tradition und Weltkultur. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-18740-2

Ringmar, E. (1996). Identity, Interest and Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511557705

Risse, T. (2007). Deutsche Identität und Außenpolitik. In Handbuch zur deutschen Außenpolitik (pp. 49-61). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90250-0_2

Rosenau, J. (1990). Turbulence in world politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691188522

Wendt, A. (1999). Social theory of international politics. New York: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511612183

Zehfuss, M. (2002). Constructivism in international relations: the politics of reality. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491795

 

Gaman-Golutvina, O.V., & Nikitin, A.I. (Ed.) (2019). Sovremennaya politicheskaya nauka: Metodologiya [Modern political science: methodology]. Moscow: Aspect Press. (In Russ.)

Hauer-Tyukarkina, O.M. (2013). The discourse of the national in modern German society. The Journal of Political Theory, Political Philosophy and Sociology of Politics Politeia, 4, 67-78. (In Russ.)

Ignatieva, O.A. (2017). The influence of interethnic communication on national identity and foreign policy of the state. Concept: Philosophy, Religion, Culture, 3, 104-112. (In Russ.)

Kokeev, A. (2018). New emphasis in German defense strategy and security policy. World Economy and International Relations, 11, 26-34. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2018-62-11-26-34

Orlov, B.S. (2012). Problemi identichnosti sovremennoi Germanii [Problems of identity in modern Germany]. Moscow: Center for scientific and informational research of global and regional problems. (In Russ.)

Pavlov, N.V. (2021). Russia and Germany: back to the future? World Economy and International Relations, 9, 69-78. (In Russ.)

Pavlov, N.V. (2023). Era Angeli Merkel [Angela Merkel’s era]. Moscow: Aspect Press Publishing House. (In Russ.)

Pavlov, N.V., & Pimenova, E.V. (2023). History in German political culture: genesis and modern time. Polis. Political Studies, 1, 29-41. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2023.01.04

Pimenova, E.V. (2019). The era that is passing away. What Germany does Angela Merkel leave. Free Thought, 2, 95-106. (In Russ.)

Poptsov, D.A. (2015). Specifics of the European and national levels in the structure of German identity (historical and statistical aspect). Bulletin of the Tomsk State Pedagogical University, 9, 262-269. (In Russ.)

Safran, W. (2011). National Identity in France, Germany, and the United States: contemporary controversies. Political Science (RU), 1, 64-97. (In Russ.)

Content No. 4, 2023

See also:


Sheynis V.L.,
Russia’s national security. durability trial. Part II. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No1

Pavlov N.V.,
Germany after Merkel (Whether to Wait for Changes in the Foreign Policy of Germany?). – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No6

Korotetskaya L.V.,
Particular features of the intellectual patriotic discourse in Germany of the 1990s. – Polis. Political Studies. 2012. No1

Ponamaryova A.M., Tatuntz S.A.,
Immigration as problem of national security of the RF. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No4

Melville A.Yu., Ilyin M.V., Makarenko B.I., Meleshkina Ye.Yu., Mironyuk M.G., Sergeev V.M., Timofeev I.N.,
Russian Foreign Policy as Seen by the Expert Community. – Polis. Political Studies. 2009. No4


Screen version