Revisionspolitik

Revisionspolitik is a term used in international relations and German-language foreign-policy discourse to describe a strategy aimed at changing or revising the existing international order or the dominant regional or global balance of power. It denotes efforts to alter a status quo, such as borders, security arrangements, or political alignments, through diplomatic, legal, economic, and political means rather than immediate military conquest. The approach is often contrasted with strategies that seek to maintain or stabilize the current order.

Key features of revisionspolitik include a focus on change through negotiation and legitimate instruments, the pursuit of strategic advantages perceived as unfair or unsustainable under the current regime, and the use of gradual, step-by-step measures intended to reduce confrontation while increasing leverage. Actors employing revisionspolitik may seek to restore historical influence, rectify perceived injustices, or reconfigure security guarantees and alliances. Economic incentives, public diplomacy, and participation in multilateral forums are common tools, sometimes complemented by deterrence and alliance-building.

Critics argue that revisionspolitik can undermine stability by signaling acceptable changes to the balance of power and encouraging coercive behavior or arms races. Supporters contend that it is a legitimate, legalistic means to address long-standing grievances or to correct asymmetries created by the postwar order.

In scholarship, the term is used to describe various episodes and strands of policy that aim to revise the status quo, from interwar and postwar contexts to contemporary geopolitics. Related concepts include revisionism, status-quo policy, deterrence, and regional approaches such as Ostpolitik, which sought more flexible relations within an existing framework.