Malta : a foreign policy of dependency? : a case study in German-Maltese relations, 1964-1979

Abstract

My love for the German language urged me to follow this particular area of study and research for my thesis. It occurred to me that there is not much written on German-Maltese relations, in spite of their importance for Malta, especially in the last forty years. Hence, my interest in writing about this subject. It was my aim to develop a greater understanding of the foreign policy of Germany and the foreign policy of my country. In so doing, I could draw parallels if there were any and understand the commonalities which helped the flourishing of relations between them. The period under study spans that from 1964 up to 1979. Malta went through important changes during these years. Among the most important ones, Maltese statesmen had to build a foreign policy for the island just as the Germans during these years continued with their aim to make other states trust them, win their respect and gain their place among the family of nations. German statesmen actually, tried to recreate a foreign policy which could help them achieve this. Both German and Maltese statesmen tried to include in their foreign policy those characteristics which they best saw as necessary to alleviate either their internal problems or the problems they had on the international scene or both. Dependency theories were mainly used as the theoretical framework for my study. These theories were also placed in the context of the theories in international relations. Dependency theories were applied to both the German and Maltese cases. In so doing, one could try to establish whether Malta had a foreign policy of dependency in these years. Practical examples are given through the case study of the development of German-Maltese relations during the period under study. It is actually interesting to see how German statesmen and the business sector were involved in the development of a budding independent state like Malta. I hope that this work may be a small contribution to help in understanding the importance of these relations during these years of crucial importance for the island.