Change in the air
AFTER 15 years in opposition, Germany's Social Democrats are starting to sniff power. At any rate they are updating what has been an archaic foreign policy as if they expect to be in government after the election due in September, 1998. The revamp is emerging without fanfare, not least because it involves an embarrassing U-turn for some party notables, including the chairman, Oskar Lafontaine, who was once a bitter critic of NATO. But a strategy paper recently drawn up by the party's top foreign-policy thinkers shows the new direction clearly enough.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Change in the air”
From the July 19th 1997 edition
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The boss of the European Commission embarks on a second term
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
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Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge