What to expect when Merkel meets Biden

[Klaralven]

A caveat must be added to the famous line by Lord Hastings Lionel Ismay, NATO’s first secretary-general and Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during the Second World War, that the purpose of the alliance was “to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

The alliance is no longer adequate to pin Germany “down” on the dissection table. The multipolarity in world politics creates space for a powerhouse like the reunified Germany to raise its head above the parapet of big-power politics.

Germany has outgrown the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a rising world power.

Quite obviously, Germany’s lack of enthusiasm for NATO’s eastward expansion blocked Washington’s agenda for Ukraine’s and Georgia’s induction into the alliance as full members. Berlin doesn’t want to complicate Europe’s relations with Russia.

Ukraine and Georgia were not invited even as “observers” to the recent summit in Brussels despite the 2008 Bucharest summit’s formal decision on their membership.

At the end of the day, Germany also moderated the Joe Biden administration’s push to drag the alliance to the Asia-Pacific region.

https://asiatimes.com/2021/07/what-to-expect-when-merkel-meets-biden/

[elleng]

1. the purpose of the alliance was "to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans dow

[jimfields33]

6. Sadly doesn't she leave this year?

[lagomorph777]

2. That reads like Chinese propaganda.

[Klaralven]

3. Indian maybe -- the author is M K Bhadrakumar, former Indian diplomat

I was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. Devoted much of my 3-decade long career to the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran desks in the Ministry of External Affairs and in assignments on the territory of the former Soviet Union. I'm Russian-speaking and had served twice in the Indian embassy in Moscow. Other diplomatic assignments abroad included as Ambassador to Turkey and Uzbekistan and Acting/Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad, besides postings in the Indian Missions in Bonn, Colombo and Seoul. By the way, briefly held charge as Charge d’Affaires in the Indian embassies in Kuwait and Kabul. After leaving the diplomatic service, I took to writing and I contribute to The Asia Times, The Hindu and Deccan Herald. I live in New Delhi.

https://www.blogger.com/profile/01091606400348979442

[lagomorph777]

4. Yeah, could be. Definitely not friendly to NATO or the US.

[Klaralven]

5. Not all that different than Deutsche Welle, the German national broadcaster, like BBC or VoA.

....

Challenges remain

Restoring US-German relations to what they once were is not without its challenges. The US, after all, is calling on Germany to increase its defense spending in line with NATO's 2% of GDP target; adopt a more proactive role in foreign crises; and show a willingness to engage militarily. US-German relations have also been strained over the almost-complete Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which will pump Russian gas to Germany.

For Merkel, always the pragmatist, the pipeline is merely a means of doing business with Russia, nothing more. But Biden, like Trump before him, fears Nord Stream 2 will make Germany and Europe dependent on Russia, while weakening gas transit country Ukraine.

During the height of the pandemic, moreover, Germany and the US were pitted against each other as competitors in the quest to buy protective face masks and vaccine doses.

The trans-Atlantic relationship, therefore, is far from harmonious.

Disagreements over China

In a statement sent to DW, foreign policy expert Alexander Graf Lambsdorff of Germany's pro-business liberal party writes that Washington views Germany's government rather critically. This is due to "Merkel's business-focused approach to China, which angers Washington." In addition, he says, Germany is regarded as unreliable over its ties to Russia, with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline drawing cross-party condemnation in the US.

https://www.dw.com/en/angela-merkel-meets-joe-biden-the-message-is-harmony/a-58244114