GERMANY, FRANCE, AND THE FUTURE OF WESTERN EUROPEAN SECURITY

Abstract

Abstract : Recent events in central Europe and the Soviet Union have brought to the fore once again the need to address the question. Doing so has become increasingly complex because it now concerns both the issue of German reunification and a trend in Germany to explore building a European defense system in cooperation with France. The specter of a reunified Germany has caused the leaders of some Western democracies, the Soviet Union, and Poland to express deep reservations about the ten-point proposal for unification of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR), initiated by Chancellor Kohl on 29 November 1989. Indeed, ambassadors from the Four Powers on Berlin met in December 1989 to discuss such questions. Despite expressed concerns, West German political parties and governmental bureaus are already actively cooperating with their East German counterparts. On 18 May of this year, the two Germanys signed a treaty formally dissolving East Germany's communist system and creating a single free-market economy which took effect on the 2nd of July. It is certain the process will continue, regardless of objections from countries worried about a resurgent Germany. As noted by President Bush, it would hardly be consistent for the Western democracies to support national self-determination in Eastern Europe and then oppose it for one of the strongest supporters of the Western alliance.