A Diplomatic History of German Unification, 1989-1990
Description:... The thesis presents a history of the diplomacy surrounding these events in 1989 and 1990. Focusing principally on the actions of the two German states, the United States, and the Soviet Union, the thesis documents the international activities of these governments as well as their most important internal deliberations. The author served in the U.S. government and drew on some direct knowledge of his subject. The thesis is principally based, however, on wide research in American archives, interviews with leading American, Soviet, and German decisionmakers, and an examination of primary and secondary sources published in English, German, and Russian. The historical narrative is accompanied by a review of the history of the German question between 1945 and 1988, a framework for disaggregating the components of international policies, and a discussion of how theorists try to cope with the problem of radical peaceful change in the international system. The problem of explaining the course of a great event is discussed again in the concluding chapter.
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