Discussion: «Evolution of German-American relations 1989-2018»
On February 14, the research seminar of the International Laboratory of the World Order and New Regionalism of the National Research University Higher School of Economics was held at the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at which INION senior research fellow Andrei Belinsky spoke.
The report was devoted to US-German relations evolution in the period of 1989-2018 and the challenges and opportunities that the modern strategic partnership transformation carries for Russia. During his report, Andrei Belinsky spoke about the key landmarks in the cooperation development between countries in security field and economy and the prospects for partnership in the context of the American evolution approaches to the Euro-Atlantic system. In his report A. Belinsky cited theses on the most intense issues in Germany-US relations framework: trade relations regarding the German industry export, cooperation within NATO, the US withdrawal from the INF agreements and the conflict of interests on the Nord Stream 2 project. The author emphasized the special historical role of American participation for Germany: from the Federal Republic of Germany formation period to the modern interests clashes on energy cooperation with Russia. Special attention was paid to American rhetoric and the vision of interaction between countries during the Bush Jr., Barack Obama and Donald Trump presidencies.
During the discussion, the participants expressed the greatest interest in possible scenarios for the partnership development with the United States and the prospects for the formation of allied blocs within Europe for Germany, as well as options for cooperation with Russia. The author believes that the relations between Berlin and Washington cannot be abruptly revised for economic and political reasons, but today there are restructuring projects of the European security system, which should take place under the German leadership. The energy issue is also a matter of principle for Germany. However, according to the author, Berlin is not set to change the interaction tactics with Russia in the nearest future. As Belinsky concluded at the end of the meeting, despite the current cooperation vector between the two countries, countries are still key partners in the region, and therefore the further evolution of relations between Washington and Berlin will be filled with a contradictions growing number of and be non-linear.
Andrei Belinsky is Candidate of Political Sciences, INION Senior Researcher, Specialist in the Issues of European Security and History of Germany.
A detailed list of publications can be found on the INION website: http://inion.ru/about/personalities/belinskii-andrei-viktorovich/