Germany's Role in European Russia Policy

Reviews / Votes

"Germany's Role in European Russia Policy-A New German Power? provides an innovative framework for analysing how EU-Russia relations might develop well into the twenty-first century."

--- Professor Angela Stent, Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University

"With her sophisticated, well-researched and astute assessment of Germany's influence on European policies towards Russia, Liana Fix effectively debunks many of the myths about Germany's alleged "hegemony" in Europe. Essential reading for anyone interested in Germany in Europe."

--- Professor Hanns W. Maull, Senior Distinguished Fellow, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP)

"Liana Fix analyses how Germany has shaped the European Union's Russia policy over the past decade and a half. This period was characterised not only by increasing tensions between Moscow and Brussels, but also by Germany's changing role within the EU. Liana Fix combines the two levels of analysis and delivers a very granulated picture of the possibilities and constraints Berlin faces in its attempts to pursue its interests and form political approaches at the EU level. Her concept of "policy dominance" (as opposed to hegemony) brilliantly captures the limits of German power, which in Germany is always weighed against responsibility and legitimacy. This book is highly recommended to anyone who wishes to understand how EU foreign policy emerges from the complex interaction between member states and EU institutions. I particularly hope it will find many readers in Russia, where experts and policy makers alike tend to frame Germany's changing role and policy in terms of traditional great power politics."

--- Dr. Sabine Fischer, Team Leader, Public Diplomacy. EU and Russia project, Moscow