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German Unification: Expectations and Outcomes

Diplomats, political scientists, economists and historians commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

When Oct 31, 2009
from 08:00 am to 05:30 pm
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German Unification: Expectations and Outcomes
Event Description

The Baker Institute is honored to bring together leading diplomats, political scientists, economists and historians to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, a watershed in European and world history. When the wall fell, policymakers faced the unprecedented challenge of establishing the foundation for a unified, stable and prosperous Germany within a peaceful Europe. This academic conference will examine the economic and political consequences of the sometimes-treacherous path to German unification.

The day before, the institute will host a historic panel discussion with six foreign ministers who navigated the sometimes-treacherous path to German unification. For more information, please see the event page for "German Unification: Expectations and Outcomes (Panel Discussion)."

 

Event Agenda

8:00 am Coffee and Breakfast

8:30 am Welcome

8:45 am Panel 1: The Foreign Policy of Unification

Philip Zelikow, Ph.D.
White Burkett Miller Professor of History, University of Virginia; Diplomat and Member of the National Security Council, 1989–90; Co-author with Condoleezza Rice of “Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft”

9:30 am Executive Summary

PDF icon "Between Euroland and Abendland? Opportunities and Challenges for German Foreign Policy"
Mary N. Hampton, Ph.D.
Professor of National Security Studies, Air Command and Staff College

PDF icon "German Unification, Western Order and the Post-Cold War Restructuring of the International System"
John Ikenberry, Ph.D.
Albert G. Milbank Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University

9:50 am Coffee Break

10:15 am Commentary and Discussion

Joe Barnes
Bonner Means Baker Fellow, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy

11:15 am Lunch

Marianne Birthler
Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Agency of the German
Democratic Republic

Panel 2: The Political Economy of Unification

1:45 pm Executive Summary

PDF icon "Reconsidering Reunification: German Monetary Union and Its European Consequences"
Jonathan Zatlin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History, Boston University

TBA
Irwin Collier, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, Free University Berlin

2:15 pm Commentary and Discussion

Wolfgang Seibel, Ph.D.
Professor of Politics and Public Administration, University of Constance

3:00 pm Coffee Break

3:30 pm Panel 3: Political Institutions

PDF icon  Political Institutions
Ulrich K. Preuss
Professor of Law and Politics, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin; Adviser to the German Round Table, 1980–90; Author of “Constitutional Revolution: The Link Between Constitutionalism and Progress”

4:15 pm Executive Summary

PDF icon "German Unification and the Federal Constitutional Court"
Peter E. Quint
Jacob A. France Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Maryland School of Law

"Dynamics of Public Opinion During the Campaign"
Robert Rohrschneider, Ph.D.
Sir Robert Worcester Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Kansas

4:35 pm Commentary and Discussion

Jeff Anderson, Ph.D.
Graf Goltz Professor of Political Science, Georgetown University


KEY PEOPLE
  • Joe Barnes
  • Jeff Anderson
  • Marianne Birthler
  • Irwin Collier
  • Mary N. Hampton
  • John Ikenberry
  • Ulrich K. Preuss
  • Peter E. Quint
  • Robert Rohrschneider
  • Wolfgang Seibel
  • Jonathan Zatlin
  • Philip Zelikow
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