01/2009 PANORAMA INSIGHTS INTO SOUTHEAST ASIAN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS 20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Panorama: Insights into East Asian and European Affairs is a series of occasional papers published by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung’s “Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia/Singapore”. © 2009 Copyright by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Editor: Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister Sub-editor: Megha Sarmah Publisher: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 34/36 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 Tel: (65) 6227-2001 Tel: (65) 6227-8343 Email: [email protected] Website: http//:www.kas.de/singapore Manuscript offers, review copies, exchange journals, and requests for subscription are to be sent to the editors. The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the policy of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Design and Layout: Select Books Pte Ltd Blk 65A, Jalan Tenteram #02-06, St Michael’s Industrial Estate Singapore 328958 Website: www.selectbooks.com.sg PANORAMA INSIGHTS INTO SOUTHEAST ASIAN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS 20 YEARS AFTER THE FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL CONTENTS PREFACE 7 The Berlin Republic: Reunification and Reorientation 9 Manfred Görtemaker The Transformation Policy in East Germany – A Partial Success Story 27 Karl-Heinz Paque German Foreign Policy: Parameters and Current Challenges 39 Eckart von Klaeden The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the European Integration 47 Ludger Kühnhardt Global Politics and the Collapse of the Political West Divide: The Emerging New Global Landscape 61 Klaus Segbers EXTERNAL VIEWS Facing a Sobering Truth: France has Become One of Many 77 Jacqueline Hénard The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Effects on and Impressions of the United States 81 Stanley R. Sloan November 9th from the Russian Point of View 87 Igor Maximychev The Fall of Berlin Wall in the Eyes of China: From the “Dramatic Changes in East Europe” to the “Unification of the Two Germany” 95 Li Wie 20 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall – A View from India 107 Ummu Salma Bava Berlin Wall in My Mind… 113 Kim Gi -Eun The Fall of The Berlin Wall: A Singaporean Perspective 119 K. Kesavapany The Fall of the Berlin Wall: Perceptions and Implications for Australia 123 Nina Markovic The Wall Came Down! Hope Returned! 131 Estevão C. de Rezende Martins The Impact of the Cold War and the Fall of the Berlin Wall on Southern Africa 137 John Daniel Preface The photograph on the cover went around the world: hundreds of people dancing the night on the 9th of November 1989 on that wall, which since its construction on August 13th, 1961, had been the symbol of the Cold War and the division of Germany and the world into East and West. The opening of the Berlin Wall at 9th November 1989 was the result, and also the cause of profound changes in Germany and Europe as well as in the international system characterized since the end of the World War II by the East- West conflict. The fall of the Berlin Wall opened the way for the reunification of Germany, which had been divided since 1949 into two states. With the end of Germany’s division, a transformation process started in the east and southeast European countries which culminated in the dissolution of the former Soviet Union. Because of its geopolitical importance, we dedicate this edition of our journal “Panorama – Insights into Southeast Asian and European Affairs“ to the 20th Anniversary of the opening and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the first part, authors from Germany will analyze the consequences of this event for Germany, Europe and the international system. In a second part, authors from different countries and regions, will describe and evaluate the perception and consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall from an “outsider’s point of view”. Those who celebrated the victory of a peaceful revolution against a dictatorial regime and danced on 9th of November 1989 at the top of the wall can be sure that they have been the protagonists of one of the unique moments that changed history. Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister Preface 7 The Berlin Republic: Reunification and Reorientation Manfred Görtemaker The “peaceful revolution” that took place in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the autumn of 1989 and led to the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, came as a surprise to most people at the time.1 After the construction of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, reunification was considered highly unlikely, if not impossible. The political, military and ideological contrast between East and West stood in the way of any fundamental change in the status quo. Even the Germans themselves had gradually become accustomed to the conditions of division. The younger generation no longer shared any personal memories of a single Germany. In addiction to the fact that since the early 1970s, the two German states had been developing “normal, good-neighbourly relations with each other on the basis of equal rights”, as stated in The Basic Treaty of 21 December 1972 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, was generally regarded as normality.2 THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE GDR However, the appearance of stability in the GDR was only superficial. It was based on the presence of 380,000 Soviet soldiers 1 For a detailed account see Ilko-Sascha Kowalczuk, Endspiel. Die Revolution von 1989 in der DDR, München 2009. 2 Vertrag über die Grundlagen der Beziehungen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik vom 21. Dezember 1972, in: Dokumente des geteilten Deutschland. Mit einer Einführung hrsg. von Ingo von Münch, vol. II, Stuttgart 1974, p. 301. Source of English translation: The Bulletin, vol. 20, no. 38. Published by the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government (Bundespresseamt), Bonn. Cf. website of the German Historical Institute:GDHI The The Berlin Republic: Reunication and Reorientation Berlin The Basic Treaty. 9 stationed in East Germany and the disciplining function of a powerful “state security apparatus”, which together guaranteed the existence of the GDR. There were no free elections until 1990, because the political leadership had to assume that the citizens had rejected the communist regime and would most likely use such an opportunity to vote down the GDR’s political system. During the 1950s, the popular uprising of 17 June 1953 and a ceaseless tide of refugees had already demonstrated the people’s attitude towards their state. Whilst the subsequent sealing-off of all borders to the West on 13 August 1961 made escape virtually impossible, it also led to an increase in pressure within the GDR. The level of discontent grew, especially after the signing of the Helsinki Final Act by all of the European countries on 1 August 1975, which strengthened human rights and underscored the right to leave one’s country. As a result the GDR leadership introduced a policy of “demarcation” to reduce the effects of the policy of détente. The state security apparatus (Stasi) was developed into a comprehensive instrument of control over the GDR population. Whereas there were around 15,000 full-time members of staff in the mid-1950s, their numbers rose to over 91,000 by 1989. During the actual years of détente between 1971 and 1989, the figures practically doubled and displayed the largest growth rates during the second half of the 1970s.3 In addition to this there were the Stasi’s “unofficial collaborators” who had also made a substantial contribution towards spying on their fellow citizens in the GDR. Their numbers rose from around 100,000 in 1968 to over 170,000 in the 1980s.4 Nevertheless, the Stasi’s combined efforts still failed to prevent the GDR citizens from taking the climate of détente as an opportunity to call for a corresponding relaxation in the oppressive censorship and surveillance prevailing in their country. The highly restricted autonomy of intellectuals, writers and artists was clearly 3 Figures from: Jens Gieseke, Die hauptamtlichen Mitarbeiter der Staatssicherheit. Personalstruktur und Lebenswelt 1950-1989/90, Berlin 2000, p. 556 ff. 4 Figures from: Helmut elmuthMüller-Enbergs (ed.), Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit. Richtlinien und Durchführungsbestimmungen, Berlin 1996, p. 54 ff. See also David Gill und Ulrich Schröter, Das Ministerium für 20 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall of the Berlin after the Fall Years 20 Staatssicherheit. Anatomie des Mielke-Imperiums, Berlin 1991, p. 95 ff. 10 demonstrated in 1976 when the critical singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann left for a concert tour to the Federal Republic and was then refused re-entry into the GDR. Friends and acquaintances who protested against this move were also persecuted. Numerous prominent GDR writers, actors and musicians were either expatriated or issued with long-term permits to leave the country. Their exodus represented not only a heavy intellectual loss to the GDR, but also a clear sign of helplessness on the part of the Socialist Unity Party (SED)’s leadership which, in the wake of détente, could think of no better alternatives than to expatriate undesirable dissenters in an effort to shore up the regime’s stability. The Evangelical churches in particular now became an important rallying point for the opposition. Peace and environmental groups which, among other things criticised the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979 and, like the Umweltbibliothek in East Berlin documented and branded environmental destruction in the GDR, gathered in and around the church communities.