Alignment And Containment:on The United States’ Position Regarding Rearming Western German,1949-1955

From the whole process of the issue of rearming Western German, the framework of two-level game advanced the issue from two aspects:one was the struggle in diplomatic levels be shown in the negotiated about international treaties themselves, the other one was those disputes among the Parties for the legislative approval in domestic levels. Both of two had a real impact on the development of issue and the trend of negotiation on procedural level and substantive level. In the meanwhile, the development of international situation had great effect on the major NATO’s countries, the United States, Britain and France, to tightly grasp the dual-containment strategy. Based on the expectation of Westernization, the decision-maker, lead by Adenaur, also struggle for national interests as far as possible. Under the constitutional democracy, the United States, Britain, France and FRG inevitable feel the tensions between political system and given international relations. At the time to safeguard the common alliance’s interest, all of them also formulated different national strategy, hence their’s counter-measures, policy attitudes were somewhat inconsistently. Therefore, it will be help us to seize adequately how the constitutional regime influence on the foreign policy, and to better understand the alliance cooperation among the US and its NATO allies under the general background of Cold War, if we can dialectical analyze the domestic politics and international relations.The dissertation was written and critically in accordance to the traditional historical method, compositing the international relations theory, the theory of foreign affair and comparative political science, set a framework of two-level game, analyze the strategic response, policy attitudes and institutional impacts, the United States, Britain, France and FRG, for the issue of rearming Western German, and summarized somewhat experience and lessons in alliance cooperation under the NATO framework. For this reason, Chapter one has a history review for the American policy to the FRG. Chapter two narrates the basic historical background and the early development of the policy of rearming Western German. Compatible with the framework of two-level game, the paper divided the issue of Rearming Western German to two aspects, namely the international diplomatic negotiations and domestic legislative approval, which constitute the Chapter there and Chapter4. Chapter5begins with the narrating to the final achieve of the policy of rearming Western German, then analyze the characteristics of decision-making both from alliance system and domestic system for relate nations. The Conclusion of this dissertation makes a necessary summary for the whole topic. The basic conclusions are following:1. The domestic political system produced not only a procedural influence, but also a substantive influence to the alliance cooperation behaviors for the NATO countries. After the end of World War II, the United States, Britain, France and FRG adhere to or set up somewhat modern constitutional democratic system, which focus on the competitive party system, the principle of restriction by divided power, representative democracy and principle of rule of law. This system makes them not only have to launch persistent diplomatic negotiations in alliance levels, but also need to institutional power restriction in domestic levels, thus allows the domestic politics and international relations could be interaction organically. This kind of interaction makes NATO fundamental different from other alliances and makes it maintaining stable and remain alive today.2. The characteristics of constitutional democracy in domestic politics and sovereign equality in international relations were broadly applied in the transatlantic community. These characteristics make the alliance cooperation behaviors among the US and its allies inevitable to arise all kind of bargaining behaviors and all of them adhere to and respect to the legitimacy and legality of these behaviors. Therefore, we can assume, to a large extent the principle of restriction by divided power in constitutional democracy play a role equal to the "automatic error correction mechanism" for west nations in the process of alliance diplomacy. Actually, while this case makes the achievement of the policy of rearming Western German to be endless because of procedural and technical problems, it can makes allies faced to the interest conflict among them, and avoided the extremes. 3. How to effectively balance the tensions between defense security and economy development was an inner line for the NATO’countries to struggle for rearming West German and to assure it makes a contribution to west defense. For insistence, President Eisenhower himself focused far more on the equilibrium relationship between defense and economy, this policy trend became one of the basic factors for the American government to come to mind more the quickly achievement of policy of rearming West German after1953. Defense budget pressures had made British government had to concern in making European defense policy. The backward status of French economic development and the lack of defense spending, also had been a potential influencing factor for the French government scrupled West German in the time to advance the West European defense.4. A nation in a given alliance system only makes appropriate national strategy and foreign strategy, and supported by flexible foreign policy, lost no time in making a compromise at the time took the firm stand, then could not only exactly safeguards national interest, but also participates effectively alliance cooperation, accordingly made the national interest and alliance interest keeping in a good and harmonious relations. Moreover, whether the US has a power to balance the conciliatory policy and pressure tactics to its allies, apply adequate tactics in different time and situation, will have a direct bearing on the success or failure of alliance cooperation.