Understanding Germany: why Berlin’s policies reflect its role as the ‘status quo power’ in Europe

Are European citizens now living, as the German sociologist Ulrich Beck once described, in a German Europe? Peter Becker writes that while the actions of Germany throughout the Greek debt and migration crises have provoked diverse responses from commentators outside of the country, Germany’s European policy has consistently been in line with its role as the dominant ‘status quo power’ in the European Union. He argues that Germany’s decision to open its borders to refugees was neither the act of a benevolent hegemon, nor an example of German unilateralism, but rather an attempt to preserve the existing order in Europe.