Reunification requires Integration of the Elite

1. East- and West-Germany were also closely connected through family ties and friendship during the division of 1949 – 1990. There were elements of a common communication and identification medium and a fundamental elite consensus: “War may never again be started by Germany.” In addition, the functionary elites of the GDR and FRG were compatible due to structural similarities and informal contacts at all levels, especially among the secondary elite.
2. The unification took place between two democratic states after the GDR was transformed through the interdependent workings of civil protests and emigration, the retreat of the old elites and the establishment of new transitional elites. Even now the East-German political elites (e.g. Angela Merkel or Joachim Gauck) are recruited out of these transitional elites, which often moved up from the second and even more from the third tier of the GDR elites, often changing their elite sector (policy, economy, science)in the process.
3. The question of reunification was put on the political agenda primarily by the West-German elites and quickly made internal reform attempts in the GDR obsolete. The integration of the East- and West-German elites was a fundamental component of the reunification process after 1990 and was facilitated by the institution transfer from West- to East-Germany.
4. Federal structures proved to be particularly helpful in offering the political elites a protected playing field and in strengthening the identification with the specific German Federal State instead of with East Germany.

   Based on our results the following conclusions can be drawn for a desired reunification of Korea.

5. The unification of Korea can succeed, provided that starting points for the integration of North Korean elites are available or can be developed.
6. The secondary and functional elites of North Korea play an important role here and should be integrated to avoid inducing feelings of heteronomy among the North Korean population through excessive elite import, which can be politicized to support separatist or nostalgic tendencies.
7. In order to achieve an (partial) integration of the North Korean elite, functional, structural or ideological processes of differentiation are fundamentally required.

Genesis of the results of the Collaborative Research Center 580 *

The theses mentioned above are related to the following research projects of the Collaborative Research Center 580: