Germany holds the ideology of global disarmament and peace. Germany's pillars of political importance are European Union integration, transatlantic relations, and responsibility for the security of Israel. Germany takes their relationship with Israel very seriously. As can be imagined the original relationship between the two was strained but Germany has made great efforts to repair relationships with the nation. Germany's largest embassy is in New York City and the US and Germany have a very close relationship. China actually surpassed the US as the most important economic partnership Germany has. This stems from imports and exports between the two countries.
Germany places renewable energy very high on their list of transatlantic issues, whereas the US has not taken as proactive a stance on "going green." The two countries do differ on that issue. Otherwise Germany's top topics are terrorism and cyber security. Germany is actually one of the United States' greatest supporters in the war on terror and has many troops abroad.
The US Democratic party is the one that aligns the most with Germany ideology. Germans love Obama! They like that he is younger and an African American. The previous Chancellor did get along with or even like President George W Bush and therefore the party change was refreshing for the US-German relationship.
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| Popular book selection in a department store, The Obamas. |
Also, pre-1989 there were a lot of US soldiers stationed in Germany. Germans were used to seeing Americans on a regular basis. Now the troops stationed in Germany have decreased dramatically and seeing Americans is less common. A very interesting bit of information: Germany is slightly concerned with their role in the world. It used to be common for German to be offered in high schools in the US. The levels have been decreasing and it concerns the country. China made a very large monetary contribution and PR campaign in the US to offer language classes. Germany is now trying to renew the levels of interest in their culture. I had absolutely no idea that countries propositioned others to offer classes in language in culture!
Later in the afternoon we visited the US Embassy and spoke with a Foreign Service Officer.
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| Outside the US Embassy |
- pre-1989 it was about Germany being the center of the Cold War
- now we work more with them on the Euro crisis, NATO, Afghanistan, etc.
Germany is behind in defense in terms of what the US would prefer. NATO requires that members spend 2% of their GDP on defense. With Germany being one of the US' greatest allies, especially in Europe, their training of troops and advancements in military technology is important.
Germany has a lot going on right now! The G8 summit is coming up, the NATO conference is in Chicago next weekend, and President Karzai of Afghanistan is actually in Germany right now meeting with government officials to discuss how Germany will continue to help the nation past the 2014 troop removal deadline.
The Office we spoke with is on her second Foreign Service tour. Her first was a "hardship" tour in Azerbaijan. She shared with us details of her first tour from where she stayed, to cultural norms, to difficult circumstances she faced. While she was in Azerbaijan she worked with human rights and was instrumental in getting bloggers released from jail for creating and sharing a video online dissenting the government. She worked a lot with freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and allowing opposition parties in the state.
We also asked her opinion on whether the US has lost its stronghold in the world. She expressed that she doesn't think it has. She did not specify whether she feels the world has transitioned into a multipolar world with the US and China, but she does not think that the US will lose its clout any time in the near future.
Overall the day was very enjoyable and educational!!
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