Villanueva, D: Europe as a Political Project in the CDU

In German Studies, research on the cultural roots of postwar conservative European policies is in an early stage as compared with aspects of research in other postwar political movements. This interdisciplinary work contributes to the field by outlining the historical-intellectual development of views on European integration culminating in the party programs of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Using a synthesis of Lützeler‘s concept of Europe as a political project, Gerhards‘ concept of meaning matrices, Goldstein/Keohane‘s theory of the role of ideas on foreign policy and Buchhaas‘ work on the role of party programs in the CDU, the productive tensions between international cooperation and national identity with regard to Europe are outlined. In the CDU, traditional organic-nationalist policies are dialectically transformed, exhibiting marked departures from outcomes predicted by prior conservative thought on Europe. Further, the party‘s manifestoes and election programs are shown to break significantly with desires for cultural-political separation from Europe seen in previous centuries, in favor of mutual responsibility for its future.