Özet:

Ostpolitik, implemented between 1969 and 1974 when Willy Brandt was the chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is an excellent example of the constructivist approach in International Relations. Ostpolitik developed an alternative approach to the realist logic of the Cold War based on power, security, and competition. Basic concepts and elements such as norm, identity, and the agent-structure interaction that constructivism uses to understand and explain international relations are seen in Ostpolitik’s theory and practice. The norms of peace and reconciliation that shape the theoretical content of Ostpolitik and the principle of “change through rapprochement” are compatible with the constructivist perspective. It is understood that Brandt’s Ostpolitik aimed to construct an identity that would change states’ threat perceptions and create a suitable environment for the socialization of actors. In practice, it is seen that policy-making actors acted with the logic of appropriateness according to Ostpolitik principles and norms. By emphasizing the social aspects and values of the actors within the framework of Ostpolitik, changes were experienced in the foreign policy practices of the Federal Republic of Germany and the actors that were the target of the practices. Visits, negotiations, and agreements were made with the Eastern Bloc State to develop relations based on identities of good neighborhoods or friends. On the other hand, the effect of Ostpolitik on the unification of Germany and detente bears traces of the agent-structure interaction, which is one of the main motivations of constructivism. Ostpolitik’s practice also provides an explanation of constructivism through a case study by being consistent with the theory’s value-based action logic.