Evolution of strategic partnership in the Federal Republic of Germany: from W. Brandt to G. Schroeder

the article observes the evolution of the concept of strategic partnership in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany on the example of two significant political phenomena: Willy Brandt's eastern policy and Gerhard Schroeder's strategic partnership. The author, based on the historical-genetic method and statistical analysis techniques, analysed the electoral and political contexts within which the eastern policy of Willy Brandt and the strategic partnership of Gerhard Schroeder were formed. The use of content analysis to study party programmes and speeches of ideologues allowed to identify similarities and differences of political phenomena. The study also attempted to reconstruct the correlation between the development of strategic partnership and economic interaction between the countries. Using the above mentioned methodological tools, the author concludes that W. Brandt's Eastern policy and G. Schroeder's strategic partnership are interrelated but different in political aspects. The differences between them are in the hierarchy of interaction between actors (transition to the actor-actor system), ways of interaction between countries (involvement of an intermediary institution in the form of the EU) and problematisation of policy, within which we can see a shift towards scientific and cultural contacts.

Россия, ФРГ, новая восточная политика, стратегическое партнерство, Вилли Брандт, Герхард Шредер