The German Quest for Geo-Economic Security since 1945

The progressive demilitarisation of the European political space in post-Cold War Europe has generated a new debate on the proper domain of security studies. During the Cold War, some argued that security could only be conceived of as a military-strategic problem; others endorsed the mercantilist position that there is a reciprocal instrumental relationship between power and plenty; and still others argued that threats to the economy constituted a separate category of security threat. In the post-Cold War period, many now employ the language of geoeconomics where they once would have spoken of geopolitics. Others suggest an expanded security agenda that broadens the content of economic security to encompass environmental, migratory, trade and macroeconomic threats to the state; and focuses on security threats at the level of the system, state and society. 1 Some categories of economic security are widely accepted, particularly the security of the energy supply. But a similar embrace of the expanded security agenda has yet to happen. Nonetheless both economic security agendas have animated German security policy in postwar Europe and continue to do so in post-Cold War Europe. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.