I feel sorry for the Germans now and more for Angela Merkel. After all that running around, calming people down, and getting things done (like in the G8 summit), people are taking off and doing things without hearing what Germany has to say or think!, Well, if you ask me, Angela, you guys need to be a bit more pushy otherwise all the others will definitely walk all over you with hob nailed boots and to add insult to injury, will stick you with the bill for damage to the boots.
==========
DER SPIEGEL 32/2007 - August 6, 2007
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,498578,00.html
PLAYING SECOND FIDDLE
Germany Left out of Global Policy Loop
By Markus Feldenkirchen, Dirk Kurbjuweit and Alexander Szandar
Weapons for the Middle East, nuclear power for Gadhafi, nominees to head important international institutions -- and nobody even bothers to call Angela Merkel. The government in Berlin is learning a painful lesson this summer: It stands alone in its multilateralist policies and few, apparently, care what the Germans think.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel: A big player with modest influence.
REUTERS
German Chancellor Angela Merkel: A big player with modest influence.
Social Democrat Gernot Erler spent last week playing the role of stand-in for Germany's foreign policy in Berlin. With the chancellor on vacation and the foreign minister in Africa, Erler, minister of state at the Foreign Ministry, found himself shouldering more responsibilities than usual as he sat at his desk waiting for reports to roll in from around the world.
As he sat in his comfortable chair, facing a vase of flowers on his leather-covered desk, Erler wasn't exactly in a jubilant mood. The news coming in to Berlin in recent weeks was rarely good, and not just as a result of the hostage crisis in Afghanistan. Erler found himself reading about the way others pursue their global policies -- without Germany.
FROM THE MAGAZINE
Find out how you can reprint this DER SPIEGEL article in your publication.
The news was none too encouraging. The French plan to supply the Libyans with a nuclear power plant and weapons, while the Americans will be selling billions in weaponry to countries like Saudi Arabia. Erler read that a Frenchman will become the new chairman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and former British Prime Mininster Tony Blair, as the West's new Middle East envoy, will soon be negotiating on Europe's behalf.
The worst part of this news was that Gernot Erler and the German government had to read the newspaper to learn about it. No one had asked them for their opinion or advice. In fact, no one even felt it was necessary to so much as notify Germany.
Erler is now sitting at the conference table in his office, facing another vase of fresh flowers. He takes pains to remain diplomatic as he discusses French President Nicolas Sarkozy and United States President George W. Bush. He cannot state his true feelings -- at least not publicly -- about the fact that Germany's friends and partners have taken to going it alone, without consulting Germany. His speech is peppered with expressions like "somehow misfortunate" or "would certainly have been desirable." But Erler's arms speak volumes. Locked across his chest in a defensive posture, they offer the clearest body language possible.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walther Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel: Powerless in Berlin?
DPA
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walther Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel: Powerless in Berlin?
The limits of German influence have been highlighted all too clearly in recent weeks. This has come as a shock to Berlin, especially after going through the first six months of the year basking in the warm glow of German-led multilateralism. Under German leadership, a European climate protection program and structural reforms for the European Union were developed and, at the G8 summit in the Baltic seaside resort of Heiligendamm, a climate compromise was reached to which even the stubborn US could agree.
Germany had behaved like a kindly sheepdog, gently driving the herd in one direction, keeping everyone nicely together and making sure that no one strayed too far from the herd. But now it's becoming clear that there could very well be a few wolves lurking in the herd. The US government announced its plans to sell weapons worth $60 billion to a number of countries in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia will receive $20 billion worth, Egypt another $13 billion, and even small Gulf states like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will soon be looking forward to weapons shipments from Washington. The US is introducing massive amounts of weaponry into what is already a sensitive region.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier promptly responded with an editorial in Handelsblatt sharply critical of the move. "I do understand the legitimate security interests of the Gulf states, for example," he wrote. "But pumping new weapons into this unstable situation throughout the entire Middle East can hardly be the solution."
As right as he may be, his words are hardly likely to impress the United States. Minor concessions on climate issues are one thing, but accepting advice on matters of security policy is a different story altogether. Once again, Germany finds itself among the powerless who are kept out of the loop, even while its own security interests are also at issue.
Averting Disaster in the Middle East
One of former Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's greatest concerns was that a conflagration in the Middle East could spread to Europe. He was frequently in the Middle East on diplomatic missions. Chancellor Angela Merkel also made it clear that the region would be a focal point of her foreign policy.
US Secretary of State Rice (right) with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal (left): A US defense deal for Saudi Arabia worth billions
AFP
US Secretary of State Rice (right) with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal (left): A US defense deal for Saudi Arabia worth billions
Germany wants to be a player in the Middle East and do its part to help avert disaster. This made it all the more upsetting to Berlin that President Bush named Tony Blair, his closest ally in the Iraq war, the new special envoy of the Middle East quartet, a group consisting of the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the EU. Despite the fact that Foreign Minister Steinmeier represented the EU in the quartet at the time, no one consulted him on this important decision, nor was he even notified in advance. There can hardly be a more blatant way of demonstrating the fact that the superpower doesn't perceive Germany as an important player. But despite the slap in the face, the Germans have persevered. "We emphasize political dialogue with all interested parties in the region," Foreign Minister Steinmeier said defiantly.
Steinmeier's statements notwithstanding, Germany is not fundamentally opposed to sending weapons to the fragile region. Saudi Arabia, for example, has been promised 72 Eurofighter jets. The jets will be coming from Great Britain, but German companies are responsible for 30 percent of production.
NEWSLETTER
Sign up for Spiegel Online's daily newsletter and get the best of Der Spiegel's and Spiegel Online's international coverage in your In- Box everyday.
A few years ago Germany supplied Israel with three of its Dolphin class submarines, which Berlin-based peace activist Otfried Nassauer believes are also capable of firing missiles armed with nuclear warheads. The same applies to the three submarines German shipbuilders plan to sell to Pakistan. Powered by state-of-the-art fuel cell engines, the vessels are difficult to locate and suitable for prolonged submersion.
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's hold on power is not exactly secure, and it is conceivable that radical Islamist rulers could one day gain control over these long-range submarines -- and pose a potential threat to German national security. Even President Musharraf isn't exactly the sort of person to whom one likes to entrust long-range missiles, especially given that Pakistan is already a nuclear power. Germany's Greens doubt that Musharraf's regime can satisfy the standards for democracy and human rights to which recipients of arms in the EU and Germany are normally held. Nevertheless, Berlin also plans to provide Musharraf with 250 of its M113 armored personnel carriers.
A personal victory: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (right) welcomes French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
AP
A personal victory: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi (right) welcomes French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Seen in this light, Steinmeier's outrage seems somewhat dubious from a moral standpoint. But the German government certainly cannot be faulted for wanting to help German companies earn revenues and preserve German jobs. And there is a difference between the occasional arms deal and developing an entire region into a giant battleship. By supplying arms to its allies in the Middle East, the US hopes to contain Iran, which is seeking to develop a nuclear program and which the US views as a major threat.
But the Germans have always pushed for dialogue with Tehran rather than confrontation. Their successes have not exactly been earth-shattering, but while diplomatic missions may not always bring improvement, they generally do not complicate the situation any further. The story usually changes when weapons come into play.
Germany: Powerless to Make Decisions on its Own
The United States believes that it is not obligated to consult with its allies, because it feels sufficiently confident in its own strength. This makes it easier for the Americans to take political action than the Germans. When the Americans feel that something is truly important to them, they suddenly become unilateralists. They take it upon themselves to make decisions. The Germans, on the other hand, are virtually powerless to make international decisions on their own, and perhaps this is not even their intention. This is why they are multilateralists, their decisions consistently dependent on seeking allies. Germany does want to exert its influence on world events, but its role as a medium-sized power precludes being able to assert this claim.
Mideast special envoy Tony Blair and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: No one consulted Germany about the important decision.
Getty Images
Mideast special envoy Tony Blair and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: No one consulted Germany about the important decision.
In theory, this should also apply to France. But the Grande Nation perceives itself as being much larger and, for this reason, occasionally has a penchant for acting alone -- especially when a new president apparently has something to prove to the world. At first Paris took its partners in Berlin by surprise when Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former French finance minister, was named head of the IMF. President Sarkozy had notified various European countries of the decision ahead of time, but not Berlin. Niels Annen, a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party, was not just speaking for himself when he called Sarkozy's move "an outrage."
Sarko's Audacity
Berlin is also annoyed by the audacity with which Sarkozy celebrated the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian-Bulgarian doctor from death row in Libya as his personal triumph. Ironically it was Foreign Minister Steinmeier who, as president of the EU Council, spent months, together with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner, negotiating the prisoners' release.
His wife Cécilia had hardly dropped off the prisoners for a photogenic return to Bulgaria when Sarkozy flew to Tripoli to announce, standing at the side of Libyan revolutionary leader Moammar Gadhafi, France's intention to build a nuclear power plant in Libya. He also promised an extensive arms package, including "Milan" antitank missiles and military wireless equipment.
France must "subordinate its national interests to a European strategy," said Andreas Schockenhoff, the deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union's parliamentary group. His Social Democratic counterpart, deputy parliamentary leader Ulrich Kelber, even voiced the suspicion that Sarkozy had only intervened on behalf of the nurses to garner contracts for French industry. "This is really the sort of behavior one would expect from despots," Kelber said, "it makes US President George W. Bush pale by comparison."
A defense industry trade fair in Paris: German firms also want to earn revenues for weapons deals and preserve jobs.
AFP
A defense industry trade fair in Paris: German firms also want to earn revenues for weapons deals and preserve jobs.
Officials at Germany's Foreign Ministry were not as judgmental. Though somewhat offended over not having been informed, they are convinced that Sarkozy will return to Germany's side in short time. "He'll calm down soon enough," officials in the hallways of the Foreign Office could be overheard saying.
Sarkozy's predecessor, former President Jacques Chirac, also dropped a bomb -- a real one -- shortly after taking office. He had the French military test six nuclear warheads in the South Pacific in 1995, triggering worldwide protests. But to Angela Merkel's relief, Chirac later became a reasonably cooperative multilateralist.
Merkel is now being forced to realize that she is no longer the leader at Europe's helm. Sarkozy, even if he calms down, has far more elan than Chirac, who doddered toward the end of his term, The new British prime minister, Gordon Brown, is no lame duck, as Tony Blair was for a prolonged period of time, but a man with great ambitions. Neither of the two men is burdened by the histories of their respective countries.
After the catastrophe of the Third Reich, the Germans were forced to practice a different way of behaving on the international stage. They learned to be modest. For a country with such a horrific past, it was unseemly to mention national interests, pursuing them even more so. The sort of unbroken national consciousness that prevails in the United States, France and Great Britain could no longer exist in Germany. But the Germans managed to turn this drawback into a virtue, building a reputation for being understanding and reserved. They developed the principle: What is good for Europe is good for Germany. In his book "Germany's Return -- an Undivided Postwar History," journalist Peter Bender pointed out that East Germany was particularly socialistic while West Germany was particularly European, because both were no longer permitted to be truly German.
A guided artillery rocket: France wants to supply high-tech weapons to Libya.
AFP
A guided artillery rocket: France wants to supply high-tech weapons to Libya.
This was the Germans' only option for being readmitted to the circle of decent people. They were polite and accommodating. If there were such a thing as a trophy for fair play in international politics, it would have gone to Germany many a time.
It was only former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder who created the impression that he intended to put an end to Germany's timidity. He shifted his rhetoric in the early days of his chancellorship. German payments to the European Union were suddenly no longer the country's contribution to peace and prosperity in Europe, but money that was being "burned." He sounded like someone who wanted change and fully intended to practice a rustic form of representation of Germany's interests.
But Schröder's plans never quite materialized. A few more business executives than before accompanied him on his travels abroad, and he took a somewhat more hands-on approach internationally than his predecessors, but Schröder was both unable and unwilling to shake up the traditional view of Germany and its role in the world.
The key tenet of German foreign policy remained the ongoing search for consensus. But perhaps this is no drawback, after all.
Christoph Bertram, the former head of Germany's Foundation for Science and Politics, doubts that countries can benefit from short-term successes in the long term. "Antagonizing others doesn't do anybody any good," says Bertram, pointing out that the Americans, by going it alone in Iraq, demonstrated that unilateral reflexes do not end well. "How far have the unilateralists actually come?" Bertram asks. His answer is clear: "not far."
Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan
© DER SPIEGEL 32/2007
All Rights Reserved
Reproduction only allowed with the permission of SPIEGELnet GmbH
Related SPIEGEL ONLINE links:
Germany's G- 8: Protest and Politics in Heiligendamm
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,k- 7125,00.html
Arming the Middle East: The Checkered History of American Weapons Deals (08/06/2007)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,498421,00.html
Sarkozy Meets Gadhafi: France to Build Nuclear Reactor in Libya (07/26/2007)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,496711,00.html
Arms for Hostages? France Makes Weapons Deal with Libya (08/03/2007)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,498038,00.html
Sarkozy's Stolen Victories: France Goes It Alone (07/30/2007)
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,497260,00.html
No comments:
Post a Comment