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Friday, June 7, 2019

On The 75th Anniversary -- Angela Merkel Says US Is No Longer An Ally -- June 7, 2019

Victor Hanson.
Merkel all but announced that Germany, or for that matter Europe itself, is no longer really an ally of the United States: “There is no doubt that Europe needs to reposition itself in a changed world. . . . The old certainties of the post-war order no longer apply.”

She insisted that Germany views the democratic United States as not much different from autocratic Russia and Communist China: Urging Europe to present a united front in the face of Russia, China, and the U.S., she said, “They are forcing us, time and again, to find common positions.”
And Merkel concluded that therefore Germany must find “political power” commensurate with its economic clout to forge a new independent European path.

In other words, in the calculus of the supposedly sober and judicious Merkel, the democracy that saved Europe twice from a carnivorous Germany — and Germany once from itself and once from becoming a Soviet vassal — is now similar to the world’s two largest authoritarian dictatorships, nations that not so long ago murdered respectively 30 million and 70 million of their own citizens.
And how odd a sentiment for someone who grew up in Communist East Germany, a nightmarish state whose collapse was largely attributable to the Reagan-era effort to bankrupt and roll back the Soviet empire.

2 comments:

  1. While stationed in West Germany in the 80's I had some sobererining (in spite of the adult beverages) conversations with locals in their 40's and 50's who still believed that Hitler had the right idea.
    His mistake was surrounding himself with crazed egomaniacs.
    I believe that same Germanic national pride still exists and can/has overwhelmed common sense several times in history

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    Replies
    1. You are so correct, and I agree completely. I had the same experience as you did when we were stationed in Germany during the late 80s and early 90s: some very strong nationalist feelings.

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