The war on terrorism operates between the collecting digital data and the tracing routes. To do this, it uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), biometrics, video surveillance or data bases. The reverse of this trend is the creation of a politically uncontrolled space managed by a logic of technology oversight. Hence, appears the emergence on legal and ethical problemes with growing intrusion of identification and surveillance technology in individuals private lives and the use of personal data in the anticipation of threats. In this context, the contours of the fight against terrorism are blurred and there are fears a move towards a general surveillance of the population.

Thanks to the new generation of leaders, Germany manages a new relationship upon the past, based on the desire to weigh without inhibition in world affairs and making a break with the culture of deference. This claim implies the rehabilitation of the “power” concept. As stressed by the White Paper on security policy and the future of the federal army in 2006, Germany – in the heart of Europe – possesses powerful global influence. Its attitude tends to reject the statu quo, seeking to obtain a permanent seat on the Security Council of the United Nations and has recently set up a better security policy, which leads to taking sides in the debate on NATO without contradicting its East objective of stabilization.

The Barack Obama election gives hope for a renewal of relations between Germany and the United States, all the more that German population has expressed a strong support for this candidate. Transatlantic relations, nevertheless, will remain constant. The United States will not exclude the unilateral use of military force if their security interests were menaced, the transatlantic link will remain a relationship between two unequal partners. On the other hand, confronting global challenges (environmental protection, disarmament and arms control, relations with Russia, development of the international financial system, strategies for stabilizing regional conflicts...), Germany and the United States positions should meet and cooperation be established.

Russia plays a major role in German strategic thinking because of its vastness, its military capabilities and uncertainties of its policy. Over time, all German leaders have shown a political awareness towards Russia in its East policy (Ostpolitik) reflecting history’s lessons. Moreover, Germany is an intermediary between Russia and the Western world since the 1990s and discussion on NATO enlargement. Since 2001, Gerhard Schröder has encouraged the implementation of a European policy towards Russia. But a true partnership between the two countries can hardly be implemented, because of fears of the Central Europe countries, if Germany becomes too close to Russia.

The French-German couple was originally designed to control Germany, which hoped to regain its diplomatic virginity. Today, this historical legitimacy is no longer sufficient to promote the Franco-German relationship, which is more based on sporadic acts than on the elaboration of a common European project. This is demonstrated by a lack of coordination on a European relaunch plan. We date the gap between these countries tensions around the European Constitution (2005) and the Nice Summit (2000). If the expectations after the Chirac era were numerous, the arrival of A. Merkel and N. Sarkozy has exacerbated the rivalry. Germany doubts, in fact, the French capacity to exercise leadership, particularly in-arm around the Union for the Mediterranean, which was a humiliation for France.

After the Second World War, Germany has embarked on a culture of strategic restraint, use of “soft power” and exclusive attention to the great challenges posed by globalization. Europe was the central project of German foreign policy, restricting and amplifying its strategic orientations. The European construction has offered the Germans an identity, even a form of substitution nationalism. But when measuring a country’s return to power, it has increasingly seen the European Union as a policy instrument to defend its interests. However, Germany can only be a fundamentally pro-European, and still needs partners, particularly France, to exercise leverage.

In 1993, the German federal government developed a policy in Asia (Asia Politik) in order to strengthen the establishment of its business. Thus, five priority areas were identified for the development of Germany interests. However, the tense relations between Berlin and Beijing, arising from the audience granted to the Dalai Lama in 2007 by Chancellor Angela Merkel, marks a break with its Chinese policy and German business priorities, heralding a new direction towards India, and deeper political and business links. Apart from this policy, other levers in the educational and research sectors, in addition to the political foundations, are skilfully used to preserve and improve German interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

After the Second World War, Germany was deprived of its army and its recovery was accepted only to fend off the Soviet threat. The fear of military blunders and undemocratic actions led to the establishment of many safeguards. Now Germany can not have chemical and bacteriological nuclear weapons, the size of its army is reduced and its action is always multilateral, except for the evacuation of nationals. Military internal security missions are also limited and the German industry was partly rebuilt in the Franco-German cooperation. The current challenge to the definition of German defence policy is to regain its sovereignty without feeding resentment of countries that have limited its military capabilities in this manner.

German external cultural policy has seen its budget increase since the arrival of first minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This proactive policy responds to the challenges of globalization. “Culture” now placed under the sign of cooperation has led to reforms at the International Goethe Institutes and schools abroad. This cultural promotion serves the country’s interests and the attraction it exercises on immigration. Areas of cooperation have also been established, facilitating the joint exercise responsibility for promoting a new world order. The rules of the economy and equity should in fact be redefined at the global scale, which can assert, in this competition, its own conceptions of democracy and human rights.

The German economy has gone through three major steps: the post-reunification dynamic (1990-1994), time of disillusionment and counterproductive economy (1995-2005) and the period of economic grown (2006-2007) thanks to heavy sacrifices and a successful economic model for export. However, the distribution of wealth between East and West remains very uneven and the fundamentals of the social market economy are being questioned. Faced with these turbulences, Germany has strengthened its performance in global competition, but was accused of having done that at the expense of its European Union partners. In the context of the current crisis, Germany has undeniable advantages, but the outlook remains uncertain, especially in the absence of a clear EU policy.

In 2005, the German federal elections resulted in a grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, with Angela Merkel becoming chancellor. In the approach, run up to the federal elections of 2009, the strengthening of The Left (Die Linke) is destabilizing the SPD, which has led to it affirming its anchoring to the left and to it, protecting itself against The Left without reneging abandoning on its policy of reforms. This situation is hardly beneficial for A. Merkels CDU, contested within her own party by public opinion as a result of her hesitation in the face of the plan to save the banks and then the recovery plan. The progression of the powerful Greens, the fight for third place that places it in confrontation with the FDP, and the evolution of the crisis could affect the voter’s choices. Therefore, the potential coalitions following the elections are likely to be numerous.

The German social model is based on a system of insurance and contributions and not on taxes and redistribution. The state is virtually absent. With reunification, it supports the massive deindustrialization in the East and the financing of mass unemployment that results, in destabilization. Other factors have undermined the German social model : the demographic decline, the problem of financing of social systems, rising poverty and the role of social partners in a context of unions withdrawals. Successive governments did not remain inert to these threats. Over the past decade, both the government of SPD-Green coalition under Gerhard Schröder and the grand coalition CDU/CSU-SPD under Angela Merkel began a series of reforms.

Now Germany takes in about one-third of the population of foreign origin living in Europe. While most immigrants have successfully integrated into society, as evidenced by the positions they hold, some are more exposed to unemployment and poverty and depend on social benefits of the state. This contrasting immigration raised a wide debate on the integration of migrants notably from Muslim countries. Of these, many are unskilled, face difficulties in mastering the German language. Delinquency is more important than in the rest of the population. But what gets lost behind all these debates is the outstanding success of Germany in the integration of millions of people who arrived half a century.

The management of the past remains a challenge for Germany, which experienced two dictatorships in the twentieth century. The country has made considerable efforts to deal with its history. After an exclusive focus on the memory of Nazi crimes, the celebration of resistance to Nazism and the development of the concept of responsibility has been incorporated in the perpetuation of that memory. This development testifies to the maturation of the working memory. The acceptance and retrospect of past diversity to maintain has clearly dominated in recent years. Nevertheless remains the question of choice concerning whether the assets should be rehabilitated. The recognition of its responsibilities allows Germany to recover its sovereignty and a better image in the international arena.