Partners in leadership: German-American relations in a post-9/11-world.

AuthorReimer, Mirco

Introduction

"In the 1990s, we thought we had the magic formula for everything. We were rich and invincible, and even Germany was expected to do what we wanted"

--Stephen M. Walt, professor at Harvard University, on the German-American relationship before the events on September 11, 2001 (1)

In a speech delivered in May 1989 in Mainz, President George Herbert Walker Bush invited the German government of Helmut Kohl to join the United States as a "Partner in Leadership." With the Cold War about to end and the Soviet threat about to disappear, Germany should assist the United States in fostering global stability and prosperity, the president emphasized: "The United States and the Federal Republic have always been firm friends and allies, but today we share an added role: partners in leadership." (2)

To some extent, Bush was speaking directly to the German populations' heart, who since the end of the Second World War had had a nostalgic relationship towards their American liberators. Without America's support, Hitler's inheritors might still terrorize Europe. Without Uncle Sam's help, Berlin might have fallen into Soviet hands twice--in 1948 or 1961. Without America's forceful diplomacy, German reunification might have been blocked by French and British European resentment. "We Germans know what we owe the United States of America: our freedom, our democracy, and the rule of law", the former German defense minister and as of this writing minister of the interior, Thomas de Maiziere, has noted. (3) Today, however, gratitude is nothing but a footnote in the annals of history, or is it?

The tectonic plates of international politics have changed considerably, both in Europe and on a global scale. (4) Countries like China, India, and Brazil are on the rise, increasing their wealth, while also craving additional political influence commensurate with their new won economic might. (5) Consequently, the challenge of the 21st century is to integrate the so-called 'rise of the rest' in the existing international order respectively reform the international system into a regime that all great powers can accept.

The transatlantic relationship between America and Europe has also come under scrutiny lately. The "pivot to Asia"--the Obama administration's catch-phrase for the strategic rebalancing towards the Asia Pacific region--has led many observers in Europe to fear an American abandonment of Europe. While there is a certain amount of truth to the fact--Europe will most likely matter less in global affairs in the coming decades unless economic growth and the advancement of a common European foreign and security policy is being implemented--America's shift never intended to put an end to the transatlantic partnership. Rather, the rise of China and the economic significance of Asia craved rebalancing resources and political attention to this part of the world. The pivot, however, should not only be an American pivot. Germans and Europeans too, need to adjust themselves to the increased importance of the region, as observers have noted. (6)

The events on September 11 were not only a human tragedy. They marked a turning point in world politics and became a symbol of the unprecedented challenges posed by international terrorism, non-state actors, and challenges that only could be defied internationally, not national or regionally. "Just as 1989 marked the end of the 20th century, September 11 may be the starting point of the world order of the 21st century," the Bavarian Minister President Edmund Stoiber observed a month after the attacks. (7)

The challenge for the Federal Republic since the events on September 11, 2001--indeed, since the end of the Cold War and German reunification--has been to balance the German populations reluctance to assume a greater role in international affairs with the emerging international expectations that Berlin would step up to the plate. "The concern of the new 'Berlin republic' was not the pursuit of another Sonderweg but to adapt with as little disruption as possible to the demands and requirements of the post-Cold War order," Christopher J. Bickerton has observed. (8) Today, the Federal Republic has undeniably acquired more influence, and is called for more than ever before. Germany, in Timothy Garton Ash's words, is an "indispensable power". (9)

Not only Germany has undergone significant changes since the events on 9/11. America's relative power has been declining, while Germany's has been growing. Although the U.S. held the keys to global order for more than a half century--and remains the indispensable nation in most instances today--the parameters have changed. In the 21st century, Uncle Sam seems to be neither willing nor play the leading role everywhere at once. The Financial Crisis, ongoing political polarization, and the rise of new powers influence--and limit--America's geostrategic influence. Turning inwards, however, appears to be no viable option for the United States. "The United States can step back from international conflicts, but that won't make them disappear," the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum noted. (10) "Superpowers do not get to retire," Robert Kagan emphasized in a widely discussed essay last year. (11)

Consequently, under the circumstances just described, the U.S. and Germany might need to work together more than ever before in the history of the German-American relationship in order to tackle the global challenges ahead. (12) Throughout the Cold War, the relationship centered around the shared traumatic experiences of World War II and the containment of the common Soviet threat. To be sure, German-American relations were never free from distrust and conflict. (13) After the end of the Cold War, with Germany's power increasing and Berlin slowly becoming Europe's economic power house and the de facto leader of the European Union, the German-American relationship became even more important. Today, the relationship between Berlin and Washington arguably constitutes the world's most important alliance.

The World's Most Important Alliance

'The world's most important alliance'--what about the United States and China, some might wonder. Obviously, there has been a lot of talk about the Sino-American relationship in the last years. To be sure, the U.S.-China relationship will shape the decades to come, since the world's two biggest economies are mutually dependent and economically intertwined (40 percent of China's gross domestic product comes from export, thereof a quarter from exports to the United States (14)). (15) Bearing America's position and China's rise in mind, there is little doubt that the 'G2' constitute the world's most important bilateral relationship. Bearing the tensions between the two countries on issues as trade policy, (cooperate) spying, and regional disputes in mind, however, it would be a stretch to call the relationship between Washington and Beijing for an alliance or a partnership. As Elizabeth Economy and Adam Segal of the Council on Foreign Relations have emphasized, "a heightened bilateral relationship may not be possible for China and the United States, as the two countries have mismatched interests and values." (16)

Others argued, and have done so vehemently, that bilateral relationships became obsolete in the age of globalization and institutions such as the European Union. (17) This is a dubious claim. The European Union's most self-evident function is still to serve the interests of its member states, in particular the largest and most powerful member states, however. Hence, the EU is neither powerful enough--due to bureaucracy and squabbles between its member states resulting in inefficiency, particularly on foreign policy matters--nor has...

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