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This paper tracks the rise of German dominance since Bismarck’s unification of Germany in 1871 and during the 20th century, when the Germans used their economic, demographic, and military power in addition to geopolitical theories, particularly the vital space theory, to support expansionism. The «German question» evolved in the wake of the two world wars as the European States’ main concern was how to maintain a peaceful, powerful Germany. Following the Ukrainian war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared Germany’s goal to have the greatest army in Europe, modernize military industries, and allocate 100 billion Euros for the defense budget. Accordingly, as strong Germany, historically, has always sought to dominate its neighbors, the paper examines the possible scenarios for the rise of Germany and its dominance over the European Union. What will be the repercussions of Germany’s rise on the future of the European Union and its institutions, and the potential incentives for cooperation and collaboration among European nations? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the origins of World War I through the correspondence of Ottoman diplomats between 1912 and 1914, namely from the formation of the Balkan League in early 1912 until the Ottoman-German alliance in August 1914. However, the emphasis is on how Ottoman officialdom interpreted 'the Albanian issue' in conjunction with the Austro-Ottoman rapprochement on the eve of the Great War. This close relationship between the Austrians and Ottomans influenced Ottoman decision-making on declaring war on the Balkan allies in October 1912. More significantly, however, on the eve of the Great War, despite the reluctance of German officials, it was again the influence exercised on Germany via the Austrian Embassy in İstanbul that finalised the Ottoman-German alliance on 2 August 1914. With new sources and reasoning, this article hopes to contribute to current debates on the origins of the Great War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few years, German non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have opposed the intents of the German government to place conditions on public project funding that aim to strengthen the cooperation between NGOs and the German armed forces operating in Afghanistan. Analysing NGOs' critiques of civil-military cooperation, the author shows the ambiguities of NGOs' declarations, which tend to oscillate between political abstinence and a critique of the military intervention. The author argues that while NGOs and their networks oppose direct civil-military cooperation at the local level, they avoid clear political position-making with regards to the broader project of international military intervention and state-building. The specific and contradictory political roles of foreign NGOs within the international project of regime change in Afghanistan are analysed and issues that NGOs should debate in order to clarify their political position, despite the probable cost of a common position within „the NGO community", are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]