This volume analyses current German domestic and foreign policy debates of international relevance. By reflecting their contemporary historical background and discussing the logic behind the different positions in a dispute, the author considers issues such as whether Muslim women should be allowed to wear headscarves, fears about immigration, the predominance of either a single national culture or multicultural pluralism and the admissibility of multiple citizenship. This book also sheds new light on the debate over the boundaries of freedom of expression, which was triggered by the so-called Danish "Mohammad cartoons." Aspects of German foreign policy are addressed, including the debate on the ratification of a European constitutional treaty and of the Treaty of Lisbon, German attempts to obtain a permanent seat on the Security Council, as well as the question of whether the deployment of the German army in Afghanistan contributed to the defense of Germany. This book is of interest to students and scholars of political sciences, as well as to journalists and practitioners interested in an analysis of current political debates in Germany.

Autorentext

Studies in History, Political Science, Geography, and Pedagogics in Marburg/ Lahn, Berlin, Bratislava, 1974-1990 Research Director at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, 1975-1993 Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology at the Goethe University of Frankfurt, 1993-2005 Chair/Professor of Political Science and Contemporary History at the University of Mannheim, Visiting Professor at the Universities of Copenhagen, Irvine, Cal., Vilnius, 1993-2009 Research area and project director at the Mannheim Center for Social Research, since 2009 Lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Goethe University of Frankfurt.

Inhalt

Preface.- 1 Political Issues Under Debate. On the Meaning and Purpose of a Series of Political Science Lectures on Contemporary History.- 2 The Offences and Repudiation of Thilo Sarrazin. Are there Limits to Freedom of Political Opinion in Germany?.- 3 The Dispute Over the Veil. The Conflict Between Laicism (the Separation of State and Religion) and Religious Tolerance.- 4 The Globalisation of the Danish Cartoon Dispute.- 5 "Multiculturalism" or German Leitkultur as Maxims for the "Integration" of Foreigners.- 6 Integration or Assimilation of Ethnic Minorities. On the Future of Danish, Sorbian, Italian, Turkish and Other Germans in the Federal Republic of Germany.- 7 The Advantages and Risks of Multiple Citizenship.- 8 Denglish Instead of German? The Changing Use of Language in Germany.- 9 From the Constitutional Treaty to the Lisbon Treaty: Is the European Union on the Way to Becoming a Federal State?.- 10 Once Again: Was Germany Defeated or liberated on the 8th of May 1945?.- 11 From the West European Commemoration of Auschwitz to a Pan-European Commemoration of Auschwitz and the GULag Archipelago - and Inevitable Consequence of the Eastward Extension of the EU for Commemoritan Policies.- 12 Expellers and Expelled. On an Appropriate Form of Commemoration.- 13 The "Defense of Germany in the Hindu Kush". The German Role in Afghanistan.- 14 Should Germany be a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council? On the Efforts to Reform the United Nations.