Influence of Economic Relations on Bilateral Relations

In this paper, three thesis statements concerning the influence of economic relations on non-economic bilateral relations have been developed. In order to validate the thesis statements a methodology was chosen that is mainly data driven and based on two case studies and a data comparison procedure, as opposed to a "theoretical approach". After the methodology was evaluated a choice of cases was made and data were collected. Furthermore appropriate data (frequency and availability of data) were collected and presented. Finally data evaluation was undertaken (as a comparability check) and conclusions (e.g. that the relation of Germany and France is 100:8 stronger than Germany-China, based on data!) derived from the collected data were made. As a next step the "impact matrix" of Vester (that is commonly used to analyze influences) was developed based on the data out of the two cases and the data comparison sections.