In light of the uncertainties associated with the further rise of China, the US has found a 'rational' strategic plan under President George W. Bush that is politically acceptable within the administration and to the domestic public at large. It combines elements of engagement and containment in...

The starting point of the argument is that America policy should be guided by the plausible assumption that German and European positions are not without influence in the current American debate about the country's role in the world. The fundamental goal of policy towards the United States,...

In the public debate, the use of sanctions seems to be viewed predominantly with scepticism. States, however, time and again seek refuge in these measures. But what can sanctions actually achieve? How do they work? What lessons can be learned from previous experiences? What more or less...

Nuclear deterrence is back. Of course, it had never disappeared, but retreated into the background as a hedge against future uncertainties. Hopes of overcoming the deterrence system through nuclear disarmament have been dashed. Nuclear deterrence gains new importance in the era of great power...

The Sino-American conflict syndrome contains several elements. It is based on a regional status competition, which is increasingly becoming global. This competition for influence has become combined with an ideological antagonism that has recently become more focused on the US side. Since the...

September 11 presented the Bush administration with the opportunity for a strategic reorientation of American foreign policy. Contrary to the hopes of many, however, this chance was not used to move towards a more multilateral policy, rather it was used to mobilize resources to the benefit of a...

Recent tensions at the governmental level do not yet add up to a crisis in GermanAmerican relations. But political divergences and dissonances are an expression of structural conflicts in the transatlantic relationship that have been intensified by the post-September 11 strategy shift in...

In two policy speeches made in November 2003, President Bush reaffirmed and ex-plained his commitment to promoting democracy in the Middle East as a central goal of US foreign policy. Like no president before him, he has called for overcoming the failed, decades-old policy that has been...

In the United States, the debate about how to deal with Iran has recently intensified. Firstly, speculation about the relationship between Iran and al-Qaeda was prompted by the report of the 9/11 Commission. A number of those who participated in the attacks left Afghanistan via Iran, but they...

Even after the March 2005 European-American agreement on a common tactical approach to the conflict over Iran's nuclear ambitions, policy towards Iran remains a potential flash point in transatlantic relations. The Bush administration supports the negotiations, in which Great Britain, France and...