The crux of the German problem lies in the contrast between the particularly changing and indefinite character of Germany's national identity and the particularly rigid constraints imposed by its geopolitical situation. These constraints have found their most brutal expression in the division of Germany in the wake of World War II, as a consequence of the division between East and West. With the decline of the Cold War, at least in its classic form, the new problem is that of the three-level congruence or discrepancy between the two Germanies, the two Europes and the two Superpowers. Whether these relations are parallel or divergent, the differentiation may lead to a restructuring of European security.Le problème allemand est fondé sur le c...