Kerry and Germany: What Would Change?

The German press is beginning to take seriously the possibility of a Kerry victory on November 2, and so the question comes up: what would change in the US alliance with Germany? We have already noted that in Germany Kerry is preferred over George W. Bush by a large margin. But would a Kerry presidency actually improve US-German relations, which have been damaged by the US-led Iraq invasion? Today ZDF-Online posed this question to Karsten Voigt, Coordinator of US-German Relations for the Schröder administration. Of course, Voigt has to be very diplomatic in his answers, since no matter who wins on November 2 his office will have to work with him. But he sounds a note of caution with respect to John Kerry’s oft-cited commitment to ‘multilateralism’, noting that ‘actions speak louder than words’.

ZDFonline: Viel wird sich also nach dem 2. November nicht ändern?

Voigt: Doch, es wird sich etwas ändern. Ich erinnere mich daran, dass zu der Zeit, wo Bush noch Kandidat war, er der damaligen Administration von Clinton und Gore vorgeworfen hat, die Alliierten nicht genügend zu konsultieren. Er hat eine “humble nation”, eine bescheidene, zurückhaltende Nation, versprochen. Das, was sich danach daraus entwickelt hat, ist etwas anderes gewesen. Insofern sind mir noch wichtiger als amerikanische Präsidentschaftskandidaten, die den Multilateralismus loben und die Konsultation mit den alliierten, europäischen Partnern versprechen, die Präsidenten, die es tatsächlich später auch tun.

But in general Voigt doesn’t see major differences between Bush and Kerry in their approach to foreign policy.

Voigt is certainly incorrect in this, since the outline of a Kerry Germany policy is already visible. For one thing, Kerry has been extremely critical of Bush’s plan to withdraw most of the 70,000 US troops from Germany. Undoubtedly that plan would be postponed and/or scaled-back if Kerry wins the presidency. A Kerry presidency would certainly revitalize the US commitment to NATO (one can imagine General Wesley Clark playing a role in a Kerry administration). This would pretty much eliminate the need for a special EU military force. And, while Voigt rejects the idea that Kerry would convince Germany to commit combat troops to Iraq, there are certainly indications that others in Berlin would be more receptive to Kerry’s approach on Iraq. A President Kerry would also support US retification of the Kyoto Treaty on global climate change, which even Russia will now sign.

But others are alarmed by John Kerry’s campaign rhetoric. In a column in today’s Financial Times Deutschland(“Breaking with the Founding Fathers“) Thomas Klau is particularly disturbed by something Kerry said in the first presidential debate and then has repeated several time since: “I will hunt down and kill the terrorists wherever they are.” Klau sees this statement as showing contempt for the international rule of law, but also as a betrayal of the values of the US Constitution:

Diese Entfremdung Amerikas ist auch eine Entfremdung von der eigenen Geschichte – nämlich vom europäischen Aufklärungserbe des Kampfes für Rechtsstaatlichkeit und gegen Folter, das die amerikanischen Gründerväter den USA vor 230 Jahren in die Wiege gelegt haben. Wir sind es so sehr gewöhnt, die USA als Quelle und Bollwerk der Demokratie zu begreifen, dass die Verortung antirechtsstaatlicher, radikal rechtsnationalistischer Tendenzen in ihrer politischen Mitte rasch jeden zum Extremisten stempelt, der diese Beobachtung macht.

Klau sees only one presidential candidate who has come out forcefully against torture and in favor of international human rights. Alas, it is the candidate of four years ago: Al Gore.