A column in today’s Wall Street Journal (Matthew Kaminski, “Obama and the German Question” invites another perspective on Barack Obama’s Siegessäule rhetoric.
Much has been made of the need to improve America’s image in Europe. This narrative is some two years past its sell-by date. President Bush may not be popular at home or on the Continent, but America is again the ally of choice. On Iran, Russia, China and the Mideast, the big players of the European Union eagerly and pragmatically seek out U.S. leadership; in the surprise twist of this century so far, France leads the way.
Berlin is the exception. Its foreign policy can be charitably described as inconsistent and confused – and infused with a strain of anti-Americanism hard to find among other European ruling elites these days.
Germany’s government is a “grand coalition” between conservatives and socialists. The leading figure among the latter is Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who used to be former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s chief of staff.
Like his previous boss (Mr. Schröder is now on the Kremlin’s payroll at gas giant Gazprom), Mr. Steinmeier nurtures friendly ties with Moscow and is cool toward Washington. Chancellor Merkel’s instincts lead her in an opposite direction, yet she has shown little leadership on foreign policy of late, possibly to avoid a costly fight before elections.
Russia is a major concern to European leaders today, as Tsar Prime Minister Putin grows steadily more authoritarian, anti-American and irrational. It wasn’t a major topic of the Siegessäulesprache, but the few words devoted to it took an unambiguous stand. Quoth Senator Obama:
In this century — in this city of all cities — we must reject the Cold War mindset of the past, and resolve to work with Russia when we can, to stand up for our values when we must, and to seek a partnership that extends across this entire continent.
That is the Schröder/Steinmeier line: See only good in the Kremlin. David Frum rejoins:
Russia has reverted to authoritarian rule. It uses its oil and gas to muscle its neighbors. The rulers of Russia are almost certainly responsible for the assassination of one of their most effective critics on British soil — and for the murder of dozens of journalists at home. These are facts, not delusions born of some “Cold War mindset.”
[And here and here are more to read about the current state of Russian liberty.]
Did Slick Barry realize that he was taking sides in an important European debate? Perhaps not. Did he mean to pass lightly over Russian misconduct? Not necessarily; the passage may have been “just words”. Nevertheless, it means more than a little when an immensely popular American politician stands on German soil and endorses a key tenet of Germany’s anti-American Left. At the very least, the political climate will now be colder for our friends in that country. The next President, whoever he is, will have to live with the consequences.
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