For the first time in one book, two experts--one on the former West Germany and one on the former East Germany--have combined their intellectual experience to provide the best and most complete analysis of Germany"s current direction in politics, foreign policy, society, and economics. Always a pivotal country, Germany has been in the midst of changing its national focus as a result of unification in 1990. In this book, readers will find a road map to where Germany has been and where it is heading. A unique exploration into a crucial topic, Germany is an essential book for students of the changing tides of world politics, and provides great insight into one of the most powerful countries of the 1990s and beyond. For the first time in one book, two experts--one on the former West Germany and one on the former East Germany--have combined their intellectual experience to provide the best and most complete analysis of Germany"s current direction in politics, foreign policy, society, and economics. Always a pivotal country, Germany has been in the midst of changing its national focus as a result of unification in 1990. In this book, readers will find a road map to where Germany has been and where it is heading. Since unification, the German national state has displayed a paradoxical appearance--its new power and influence is without question, but it is simultaneously a nation whose stability, character, and purpose are questioned both by outside observers and even more by its own people. M. Donald Hancock and Henry Krisch describe clearly how Germany has and will continue to respond to its forty-five years of separation into two states, addressing the issues of patriotism and identity among the German people. They move on to discuss specific issues of current import in the German political and social landscape, such as electoral policy, labor rights, the abortion debate, and more. What role will the new Germany play in world affairs? The authors include a lively discussion of German"s situation as a vital link between Eastern and Western Europe and as perhaps the most influential member of the European Union. A unique exploration into a crucial topic, Germany is an essential book for students of the changing tides of world politics, and provides great insight into one of the most powerful countries of the 1990s and beyond.