Realpolitik - Basing foreign policies on realistic views of national interest rather than on broad rules or principles.
For a country, protective tariffs are beneficial because it facilitates local industries and domestic enterprises to grow against foreign markets and so more currency remains in the domestic circulation. On the other side, protective tariffs harm the free market by increasing the cost of international goods through lack of competition.
The unification of Germany in 1990 symbolized a reunion of Europe as a continent and the beginning of an era where relationships between the different European nations would again be better and not riddled with ideologies.
