Alienated Partners
Germany and Russia
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The castling of the president and the departure from Dmitry Medvedev’s modernisation plans will increase the alienation between Germany and Russia. The modernisation partnership achieved only limited results. Expectations are too different. Germany would like to see economic and political modernisation. Russia is only interested in technology transfer. In Germany, interest in Russia is declining. There is a lack of vision for the future. Russia risks losing its most important advocate in the European Union. But the upheaval in Russia provides an opportunity to find new partners for modernisation in Russia. Berlin should readjust its Russia policy. More realism about elite interests in Moscow and greater openness towards the civil society in the Russian capital are important.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2012, pp. 475–484)