I am still sifting through the German press reactions to the election results in the US. Now that people have had a couple of days to reflect on the outcome there is some thoughtful commentary on what four more years of a Bush presidency will mean to German-US relations.
For English readers, I strongly recommend checking out the analysis by the leading German Think Tanks compiled by Spiegel-Online. Worth quoting are the comments of Jens van Scherpenberg, director of transatlantic policy discourse at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs:
"Germany may also pursue a more independent approach in other areas, like it’s policy towards China. We could pull China into the European crowd economically rather than pursue an implicit policy of containment that we sometimes see in the United States. Iraq will also remain an issue, but the Bush administration has made clear it won’t ask for German support beyond what has already been pledged.
If you ask me, relations can’t get much worse than they are now. Of course, the relationship has stabilized to a professional level. Yet I don’t think things are improving in terms of common interests. The US’s status as a world power and leader of the Western alliance could be weakened by a further four years of Bush because it will be further isolated in the world. A US that is unattractive and less of a role model is not in the European interest, since, at the end of the day, we should have the same core set of Western democratic values. In Europe, it is difficult for us to pursue those values with other countries, like Russia and China, if we can’t do so cooperatively with the United States. Seeing that Bush is likely winning with 3.5 million votes more than Kerry and that he is winning with a decisively Christian rightist agenda baffles people in Europe, where attitudes are largely secular."
Also on the Spiegel Web site is an interview with the historian and writer Dan Diner, who takes a longer view of the growing division between Europe and Germany.
Diner: Zwischen Europa und Amerika existiert seit langer Zeit ein kultureller und politischer Graben. Wir nehmen ihn erst seit ein paar Jahren wieder stärker wahr. Die Differenzen sind nicht erst heute oder in letzter Zeit entstanden, sie haben eine lange Vorlaufzeit. In der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts war der Graben durch das transatlantische Bündnis im Kalten Krieg zugeschüttet. Jetzt bricht er wieder auf.
Diner reminds us that America is land of immigrants, most of whom fled Europe, or were driven out of Europe by political or religious persecution. The division between America and Europe is thus the natural state of affairs; this was only obscured by the Cold War. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union the rift once again began its inexorable progression. Bush may have been the catalyst, but a Kerry presidency would have only retarded the development for a time. Finally, Diner sees the US now fixated on Asia; Europe holds no interest.
Many of us are depressed by the events of this week, but the Tageszeitung reminds us that Bush was not the only winner in the election. Here are nine other clear winners:
- Eminem
- Michael Moore
- God
- Hillary Clinton
- Red-Green Coalition in Berlin
- The Simpsons
- The Peace Movement
- Osama bin Laden
And the biggest winner? The Tageszeitung itself, whose readership swelled with the huge interest in the election.
