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German Foreign Policy and the War on Iraq: Anti-Americanism, Pacifism or Emancipation?

The clash between Berlin and Washington over the war on Iraq in 2002–03 came as a surprise to the community of scholars and analysts watching German foreign policy and transatlantic relations. Attempts to explain German behaviour have mostly focused on either the anti-American or the pacifist nature of German society. There is some relevance in these explanations, but they poorly explain the timing of the change, its sudden emergence and its focus on the Iraq issue. This article argues that the most important driving force behind the change was neither anti-Americanism nor pacifism, but rather Germany’s political emancipation. The Germans had been gradually growing into their role as a leading power in Europe that is willing to take on greater international responsibility. When Berlin felt that it was not consulted in the decisionmaking process, it reacted strongly. The question at stake was the nature of the world order and the relations of the USA to its allies, and no longer the single issue of Iraq.