Deutsche Mark Diplomacy - by Randall E Newnham (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Whether economic sanctions work at all, and how they work if they do, are questions that have long been debated by scholars of international relations. Using a new analytic approach, which distinguishes between positive and negative sanctions and between specific and general sanctions, this book aims both to demonstrate the importance of economic linkage and to explain the variety of forms it can take.

Deutsche Mark Diplomacy draws support for its theoretical arguments from a careful study of Germany's efforts to gain political leverage over Russia via economic means from 1870 into the 1990s. Focusing on two major powers over a long period, during which regimes changed and issues varied, Randall Newnham finds strong evidence to show that positive forms of linkage such as foreign aid and trade or credit incentives are more effective than negative types such as embargoes. His book significantly expands our understanding of the role played by economic sanctions in international politics at the same time that it offers a more systematic way of explaining German foreign policy.

Review Quotes

"Ambitious and finely written."

--Orfeo Fioretos Perspectives on Politics

"In his endeavor his is highly successful."

--Matthew Allen German Politics

"Newnham's study lives up to the complexity of economic relations, where causal relationships are often hard to untangle. Moreover, he never loses sight of the fact that economics is ultimately tied to politics and matters of military security. This theoretically and historically sound study will be essential reading for scholars of IR, IPE, and regional experts."

--Gerlinde Bernd German Studies Review

"The book is clearly written and sensibly organized with an introductory chapter, which also serves as a conceptual chapter, four empirical chapters presenting the history of German foreign economic policy toward Russia in chronological order, and a conclusion that summarizes the findings and their relevance to the literature on economic sanctions. The story is an engrossing one of an evolving interdependence between two adversaries. Although many scholars have investigated the utility of positive sanctions, none have done so in the important context of German-Soviet relations."

--Beverly Crawford Slavic Review

"This book raises important questions about the role of economic linkage and economic incentives that have been under-addressed in the fields of international political economy, international relations, and comparative politics. These questions will be of interest to a broad set of scholars in those fields as well as scholars more generally interested in power, wealth and economic development, and strategic interaction. This study also provides a wide-ranging and detailed discussion of German-Russian relations that should be welcomed by comparativists and regional experts."

--George Shambaugh, Georgetown University

"This will be the best study to date in political economy of the German-Russian economic relationship. The chapters on the Cold War settlement and after will likely be the principal point of reference for scholars working in this area. The book also makes a careful and persuasive case for the power of positive economic sanctions and, in that way, contributes significantly to the revival of scholarly interest in that form of economic state craft."

--Michael Mastanduno, Dartmouth College

About the Author

Randall E. Newnham is Associate Professor of Political Science at Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley College.