Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: Study in Statecraft - Hardcover

Zelikow, Philip; Rice, Condoleezza

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674353242 ISBN 13: 9780674353244

Verlag: Harvard University Press, 1995

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Zelikow Philip D Rice Condoleezza

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Críticas

A valuable, highly readable contribution to the literature on German reunification. A remarkably complete history of the reunification of East and West Germany...The book is very well written and exhaustively researched. It may well become the standard account of a landmark event of 20th-century European history I t is the book's 'insideness', the extent to which the authors were not merely observers but participants in the negotiations, which gives it its value. The book is rich with quotations as well as anecdotal evidence. -- Hugo Miller "Historical Journal" This book is remarkable indeed, and very exciting...This superb piece of contemporary historiography will be indispensable to all students of Germany's unification, and powerfully assists our understanding of how the Cold War ended and the New Europe' of the 1990s came into being. -- Roger Morgan "International Affairs" This book is an exhaustive investigation into the delicate diplomatic maneuvering that led to the creation of a unified Germany in 1989-1990. The authors studied American, German, and Soviet documents and interviewed many key figures in the decision-making arena. The result is a detailed and fascinating account of behind-the-scenes discussions and deliberations. In one of the most extraordinary accounts of contemporary diplomatic history, Zelikow and Rice, both on the National Security Council staff during the events they describe, use normally inaccessible records and interviews with many of the players to describe the unification of Germany, itself one of the most remarkable events of the postwar world...In its scope, insight, and suspense, this account sets a standard for the genre. A s a work of diplomatic history it is nothing short of monumental. By virtue of having been active participants in the innermost circle of American decision making...the authors offer us a gem of a study in two related ways. First they draw on a bevy of primary documents from U.S., Russian, and German sources that have hitherto eluded everybody else and which, alas, will remain, at least in part, elusive to mere mortals for years, maybe even decades. Second, to the authors' great credit, they have succeeded in harnessing the richness of their detailed data to write a veritable page-turner. Anyone interested in recent politics...will find reading this book a truly rewarding experience...Simply put, this book offers an insider's look at the innermost workings of the top elites of the United States, the Soviet Union, West Germany, East Germany, Britain, and France in the forging of a united Germany...Rather than a book of political science, one should see the Zelikow/Rice study as a fascinating play whose outcome one knows yet whose players one gets to meet only through the details of this study. -- Andrei S. Markovits "International Relations" Can nations learn from history? If so, why in the case of German unification and not in others? How could German unity be achieved at all, given a long-established (but rarely expressed) conviction among the influential that it could make 'everything' break down?...Those seeking answers to these questions have a new study to turn to, in many ways the best so far, written by Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice on the unification of Germany and the various bilateral and multilateral negotiations that surrounded it...The authors were members of the National Security Council in the Bush administration, and thus participated directly in the decision-making process and diplomatic events surrounding German unification. Equally important, the book is based on the US government's 'official history'--traditionally composed after important negotiations--with its privileged access to all records of conversations, telegrams and Central Intelligence Agency documents. Zelikow wrote that history and was allowed to use it as the basis for this study, which he co-wrote after both he and Rice had interviewed many of the major actors involved and consulted governmental archives not only of the defunct German Democratic Republic but also of the Soviet Union, to which they were given access...The study is written in the best traditions of historical sociology. It analyzes negotiations and examines the motivations of governments, the role of individuals, and the internal economic, political and social situations. Overall, it provides fascinating reading and a welcome respite from the increasingly dull products of contemporary political science scholasticism in the US and Europe. -- Karl Kaiser "Survival" the Cold War ended and the New Europe' of the 1990s came into being. dull products of contemporary political science scholasticism in the US and Europe. the historic opening of the Berlin Wall, in November 1989, was actually the result of a bureaucratic error. policy today...It is gratifying that events of this magnitude should have elicited a record of this quality. Read it. suspenseful, engaging, and illuminating account of successful statecraft...This book will long stand as the definitive account of a diplomatic success story. interviewed many key figures in the decision-making arena. The result is a detailed and fascinating account of behind-the-scenes discussions and deliberations. intense negotiations...[Zelikow and Rice] have produced a detailed yet highly readable and informative work that no student of international politics should miss. than a book of political science, one should see the Zelikow/Rice study as a fascinating play whose outcome one knows yet whose players one gets to meet only through the details of this study. devised by a handful of leaders and their aides as they sought to capitalize on a rare, momentary acceleration of history. It also captures the candid exchanges among leaders about long-range fundamentals in Europe." interviews with many of the players to describe the unification of Germany, itself one of the most remarkable events of the postwar world...In its scope, insight, and suspense, this account sets a standard for the genre. their experience with interviews of the actors in the international negotiations. Second, Zelikow and Rice show clearly that accurate historical writing cannot just be done on the basis of memoirs...and newspaper articles. An important behind-the-scenes account of how East Germany was folded into West Germany at breakneck speed--an event that precipitated the demise of the Soviet Union. The authors, both of whom served on the National Security Council in the Bush White House, persuasively argue that, far from being a passive bystander, the Bush Administration was actively involved in stage-managing the denouement of the Cold War. They also argue that the historic opening of the Berlin Wall, in November 1989, was actually the result of a bureaucratic error. [A]s a work of diplomatic history it is nothing short of monumental. By virtue of having been active participants in the innermost circle of American decision making...the authors offer us a gem of a study in two related ways. First they draw on a bevy of primary documents from U.S., Russian, and German sources that have hitherto eluded everybody else and which, alas, will remain, at least in part, elusive to mere mortals for years, maybe even decades. Second, to the authors' great credit, they have succeeded in harnessing the richness of their detailed data to write a veritable page-turner. Anyone interested in recent politics...will find reading this book a truly rewarding experience...Simply put, this book offers an insider's look at the innermost workings of the top elites of the United States, the Soviet Union, West Germany, East Germany, Britain, and France in the forging of a united Germany...Rather than a book of political science, one should see the Zelikow/Rice study as a fas Zelikow and Rice have drawn on thousands of still-classified documents in the American archives. But their industry has not stopped there: to tell the Soviet and German sides of the story, they consulted the East German and Russian archives and interviewed a host of European leaders. The quality of their writing and the depth of their research ensure that their exemplary study will serve as the starting point for all future work on German foreign policy after the Cold War.--Jacob Heilbrunn "New York Times Book Review " The book is full of fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpses and anecdotes that bring to life the tremendous problems and the personalities, many of whom are now part of history, involved in those momentous months of intense negotiations...[Zelikow and Rice] have produced a detailed yet highly readable and informative work that no student of international politics should miss.--John Taylor "Political Studies " For the first time, the inside story--what the policymakers thought and did behind the scenes--is recounted by two participants, using interviews and secret documents...[The book] conveys the sweeping changes devised by a handful of leaders and their aides as they sought to capitalize on a rare, momentary acceleration of history. It also captures the candid exchanges among leaders about long-range fundamentals in Europe."--Joseph Fitchett "International Herald Tribune " [I]t is the book's 'insideness', the extent to which the authors were not merely observers but participants in the negotiations, which gives it its value. The book is rich with quotations as well as anecdotal evidence.--Hugo Miller "Historical Journal " A work of scholarship...written with the conviction and excitement which derive from direct involvement in the events described...Not the least illuminating aspect of "Germany Unified" is the light it throws on the respective contributions of politicians and of officials, in the US, Germany and elsewhere, to the drama...[E]ssential reading for anyone concerned with the conduct of foreign policy today...It is gratifying that events of this magnitude should have elicited a record of this quality. Read it.--Michael Alexander "Royal United Services Institute Journal " This is a remarkable book for a number of reasons. The first is because Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice take a complex story--the peaceful reunification of Germany within the Western alliance--and turn it into a suspenseful, engaging, and illuminating account of successful statecraft...This book will long stand as the definitive account of a diplomatic success story.--Thomas Alan Schwartz "American Historical Review " [This] book is remarkable indeed, and very exciting...This superb piece of contemporary historiography will be indispensable to all students of Germany's unification, and powerfully assists our understanding of how the Cold War ended and the New Europe' of the 1990s came into being.--Roger Morgan "International Affairs " The book is a rich quarry for contemporary historians...[The] accomplishment [of German reunification could not] have found more astute chroniclers than Zelikow and Rice..."Germany Unified and Europe Transformed" will for many years remain the definitive treatise on German reunification and on a brilliant chapter in the annals of American statecraft. Indeed, it will--or at least should--be read as a standard textbook.--Josef Joffe "Foreign Affairs " Point after point the two authors list, at every step supporting their assertions and interpretations with documents and interview material...The two show two kinds of insights into the events of the eleven months between the fall of the Wall and the conclusion of the '2+4' Treaty: First Zelikow and Rice succeed in pulling off, what most as a rule portray superficially or through colorful personality publications about the international dimension of German unity, a work of undeniably long, continuing value. Thereby they do not just settle for the saying, 'documents don't lie, ' but always try again and again to cross-check their study of the documents and hard-won knowledge from their experience with interviews of the actors in the international negotiations. Second, Zelikow and Rice show clearly that accurate historical writing cannot just be done on the basis of memoirs...and newspaper articles.--Peter M. Wagner "Die Welt " Can nations learn from history? If so, why in [the case of German unification] and not in others? How could German unity be achieved at all, given a long-established (but rarely expressed) conviction among the influential that it could make 'everything' break down?...Those seeking answers to these questions have a new study to turn to, in many ways the best so far, written by Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice on the unification of Germany and the various bilateral and multilateral negotiations that surrounded it...The authors were members of the National Security Council in the Bush administration, and thus participated directly in the decision-making process and diplomatic events surrounding German unification. Equally important, the book is based on the US government's 'official history'--traditionally composed after important negotiations--with its privileged access to all records of conversations, telegrams and Central Intelligence Agency documents. Zelikow wrote that history and

Reseña del editor

Officials mingled in the lobby of the Oktyabrskaia Hotel - shaking hands, sipping champagne, signing their names - and Germany was united. In this undramatic fashion, the international community closed the book on the drama of divided Germany. But nothing so momentous could be quite so quiet and uncomplicated, as this volume makes strikingly clear. This book goes behind the scenes through access to still not opened archives in many countries. "Germany Unified and Europe Transformed" discloses the moves and manoevres that ended the Cold War division of Europe. Philip Zelikow and Condoleezza Rice, who served in the White House during these years, have combed a vast number of documents and other sources in German and Russian as well as English. They also interviewed the major actors in the drama - George Bush, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Eduard Shevardnadze, James Baker, Anatoly Chernyayev, Brent Scowcroft, Horst Teltschik, and many others. Their firsthand accounts merge to create a complete, detailed and powerful immediate picture of what happened. The book takes us into Gorbachev's world, illuminating why the Soviet leader set such cataclysmic forces in motion in the late 1980s and how these forces outstripped his plans. We follow the tense debates between Soviet and East German officials over whether to crush the first wave of German protesters - and learn that the opening of the Berlin Wall was in fact one of the greatest bureaucratic blunders in human history. The narrative then reveals the battle for the future of East Germany as it took shape between West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and the reform Communist leader, Hans Modrow - East Germany's "little Gorbachev". Zelikow and Rice show how Kohl and George Bush held off the reactions of governments throughout Europe so that Kohl could awaken East Germans to the possibility of reunification on his terms. Then the battle over the future of the NATO alliance began in earnest. The drama that would change the face of Europe took place largely backstage, and this book lets us in on the strategies and negotiations, the nerve-racking risks, last-minute decisions and deep deliberations that brought it off.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harvard University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0674353242
• ISBN 13: 9780674353244
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Sprache: Englisch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 512