Am I dreaming? Did I just see images of German citizens waving the American flag? Were a quarter of million Berliners cheering the words of an American politician?
Three years ago the city of Mainz was transformed into a ghost town by the visit of George W. Bush. The authorities were so afraid of violent protests they evacuated the entire city. At the time, I remember thinking that the transatlantic alliance was dead – killed by the Bush doctrine and the neoconservative cabal in Washington. Barack Obama has given me hope that the alliance can be restored.
"America has no better partner than Europe. Now is the time to build new
bridges across the globe as strong as the one that bound us across the
Atlantic. Now is the time to join together, through constant
cooperation, strong institutions, shared sacrifice, and a global
commitment to progress, to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It
was this spirit that led airlift planes to appear in the sky above our
heads, and people to assemble where we stand today. And this is the
moment when our nations – and all nations – must summon that spirit
anew."
I will blog about the reception in the German press in the next days. For now I just want to savor this moment. If you haven’t read the speech, you can find it here (auf Deutsch).
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Barack Obama has given me hope that the alliance can be restored.
I think this is less about Barack (although his charisma definitely plays a role) and more about him being Not-Bush. Us Germans will return to our usual reflexes of arrogance, know-it-allery and anti-Americanism as soon as he is in the White House and has to make unpopular decisions, like invading Iran.
A nice moment in time, definitely. But let’s give it three or four years and see how he’ll be received in Berlin after he’s been President for some years. That’ll be the real Litmus test for the state of German-American relations.
“has to make unpopular decisions, like invading Iran.”
If this happens – dann nur mit euch.
The days of American unilateralism are over. That was the message of the speech.
Don’t get your hopes up too much… I’m betting most of those flag-wavers were American expats. 🙂