This volume offers a wide-ranging analysis of West German foreign policy since 1955, the year in which the occupation ended. The author analyzes the latent conflict of priorities between Western orientation and policies directed to the East by evaluating West Germany's stability and reliability as a member of the Atlantic alliance, its relations with the Soviet Union, and the question of reunification with East Germany. The work covers the various periods in the development of post-war German policy, the relationship between the German question and the security of Western Europe, and the renunciation of force as an instrument of Ostpolitik.