The German Question

The 'German Question,' long a subject of debate, is considered here at the close of a turbulent century, after Germany's defeat in two world wars, the Weimar failure and Nazi disaster, Cold War division, and the nation's unexpected recent reunification. This book systematically explores the issue in terms of its four central dimensions: Germany's identity, national unity, power, and role in world politics. Ambitious in conception and meticulous in execution, Dirk Verheyen's wide-ranging analysis incorporates historical and geopolitical considerations in an intellectually rigorous yet accessible discussion.

Dirk Verheyen is associate professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He is coeditor of The Germans and Their Neighbors (Westview Press, 1993), and is currently completing a study entitled Monumental Politics: Identity and Memory in Post-Cold War Berlin.