The thesis examines the reconfiguration of concepts of national identity in postunification Germany in three broad sections. Section one examines the discourse of identity of neoconservatives and critical thinkers between the 1960s and 1980s. Neoconservatives advocated a return to conventional national identity based upon the patriotic identification with indigenous national traditions. Critical thinkers argued for a post-national Constitutional Patriotism based upon the critical reflection of national traditions. Both these approaches are located within the context of conflictual attitudes towards the concepts of "compensation" and "emancipation" in past and present and towards the experience of the National Socialist past. Section two examines the reception of unification within the liberal conservative and neue Rechte milieu. Liberal conservatives sought to synthesise the technocratic Westernisation of the post-war FRG with a traditional national concept. Neue Rechte conservatives rejected "Western" values and perceived in the collapse of Communism the discrediting of both the "utopia" of radical social alternative and also of the Kleinutopie of civil society. The post-Cold War constellation signified for these thinkers the opportunity for a return to pre-1945 traditions of German nationalism and offered an opportunity to relativise the national socialist past. Finally, section three offers an analysis of the reconfiguration of national identity which synthesises the concern for "national" identity with the left-liberal concept of "postnational" identity. The "Westernisation" of the concept of the German nation perceived positive antecedents in the bourgeois emancipation movements of the pre-national nineteenth century. The final chapter elaborates the thesis of a "culture of contrition" for the national socialist past which formulates a radical, "post-national" identity with emancipatory aspirations. The thesis perceives in this latter discourse of "broken" identity an attempt to reconfigure a sense of national "normality" in the present which is predicated upon the acknowledgement of "abnormality" in the past.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was one of the great blunders in American foreign policy. This thesis examines Neoconservative thought and policy, and its effect on the nation and state building effort in Iraq. It provides an analysis of the Iraqi Constitution and uses the faults of the Constitution to paint a picture of the larger instabilities and difficulties in Iraq today.

The main goal of this disertation is to map American pespectives on the position of Central Europe in American foreign policy after the Cold War. Its ambition is to systematize the particular area of American foreign policy thought that deals with Central Europe and, more precisely, with U.S. relations with the region. The goal is to contribute to a better understanding of how have the individual camps and traditions represented in the American foreign policy debate approached this particular issue. To achieve these goals, this disertation employs two existing typologies of American foreign policy thought and, subsequently, attempts to create a new, original typology that would better suit the aim of mapping the whole spectrum of relevant American perspectives on Central Europe. This disertation does not describe what has really happened in Central European-American relations, but rather aims at understanding better the U.S. foreign policy thought or, better said, one specific part of it: Opinions on U.S.-Central European relations and the position of Central Erope in international politics. Analysing the American post-Cold War discourse on Central Europe is the instrument to achieve this goal. This disertation, however, does not pressupose a direct causal link between the discourse and the...

Questo lavoro analizza le relazioni tra Stati Uniti ed alleati europei dal 1989 ad oggi, con particolare approfondimento del periodo successivo all'undici settembre 2001. L'ipotesi di ricerca è basata sulla convinzione che gli attentati del 2001 abbiano avuto un impatto fondamentale sulla relazione euro-atlantica, accelerando tendenze centrifughe già presenti nel rapporto. La tesi è composta da un'analisi storica, da sette capitoli e dalle conclusioni. L'analisi storica esamina i cambiamenti strutturali nella relazione transatlantica dopo il 1989. I capitoli 1 e 2 presentano le correnti politiche determinanti nel formulare la politica estera americana dopo il 2001, con particolare riferimento al movimento neoconservatore. I capitoli 3 e 4 analizzano la definizione di impero moderno , la questione se gli Stati Uniti siano o meno un impero e la possibilità che l'Unione europea (UE) diventi una superpotenza. I capitoli 5, 6 e 7 approfondiscono tre nodi gordiani : il futuro della NATO; la Russia tra Stati Uniti e UE; e la relazione triangolare tra Stati Uniti, Cina e UE. Infine, le conclusioni riassumono le debolezze del rapporto tra Stati Uniti ed alleati europei, evidenziano come esse siano peggiorate dopo gli attentati del 2001 e presentano i pericoli in cui la relazione potrebbe incorrere in futuro. / This dissertation studies the relationship between the United States and its European allies from the end of the Cold War to the present, with a focus on the period following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. The primary conclusion is that 9/11 accelerated divisive trends within transatlantic alliance. The dissertation has an historical introduction, seven chapters and the conclusions. The historical introduction analyzes the structural changes occurred within the transatlantic relationship after 1989. Chapters 1 and 2 discuss the political movements and ideas that shaped American foreign policy after 9/11, with a focus on the neoconservative movement. Chapters 3 and 4 define the idea of modern empire ; its use in reference to the United States; and the idea that the European Union is becoming a superpower able to counterbalance the United States. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 focus on three looming challenges within the transatlantic relationship: the future of NATO; relations with Russia; and the rise of China. The conclusions summarize the weaknesses of the relationship between the United States and its European allies; highlight how they deteriorated after 9/11; and describe the dangers that lay ahead for the transatlantic alliance.