Global Geopolitics Net Sites / IDN
BY ERNEST COREA
WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – Two days after Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke here on the need for internationally binding obligations to combat climate change, the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee endorsed a climate bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent from 2005 levels no later than 2020. This might or might not have been caused by the ‘Merkel Effect’ but nobody paying attention to her words could have missed the passion of Merkel’s commitment to managing climate change.
An English priest, the late Dean William Ralph Inge, said that “politicians are not concerned about posterity because posterity has no votes”. Times change, and so do the character and quality of politicians. Merkel was clearly concerned about posterity, because she set the climate change challenge at the heart of her anxieties about the welfare of future generations.
A wall, she said, “prevents us from seeing the needs of future generations, it prevents us from taking the measures urgently needed to protect the very basis of our life and climate. We can already see where this wasteful attitude towards our future leads: In the Arctic icebergs are melting, in Africa people are becoming refugees due to environmental damage, and global sea levels are rising. I am pleased that you in your work together with President Obama attach such significance to protecting our climate.” Note the “our”.
She emphasized the need for international collaboration so that at the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, “we will be able to tear down the wall between the present and the future — in the interests of our children and grandchildren and of sustainable development worldwide”.
SPECIAL OCCASION
Merkel’s address to a joint session of the U.S. Houses of Congress which is convened only under unusual circumstances was in many ways unprecedented and history-making as befitted the occasion: commemorating the forthcoming 20th anniversary of the destruction of the Berlin Wall by the German people. The day before she spoke, the Senate adopted Resolution 332 celebrating the end of divided Germany.
Right-of-center Merkel, Germany’s first woman Chancellor, was the guest of Madam Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, America’s first woman Speaker, whose politics are about as far left as this city will tolerate. This unusual “odd couple” combination served as a reminder of the consensus building pursued by Chancellor Willy Brandt which laid the foundation for Germany’s reunification under Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
Merkel was the first German leader to address a joint session here. Chancellor Konrad Adenauer addressed both Houses in 1957, but at separate events. She was, as well, the first foreign dignitary to address U.S. legislators during the Obama Administration.
The ‘Fall of the Wall’ marked a turning point not only in German life — leading eventually to German reunification — but internationally as well, ending the old cold war, redrawing the map of post-World War II Europe, and having a far-flung impact on international relations.
American presidents contributed in their time and in their own way to these developments, and Merkel paid tribute to them, identifying each with a well-remembered turn of phrase: John F. Kennedy (Ich bin ein Berliner), Ronald Reagan (Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall), and George H. H. W. Bush (I offer you partnership in leadership).
Merkel had much to say on both bilateral and international issues. She reaffirmed the strength and reality of trans-Atlantic collaboration when she said that: despite differences between America (“too headstrong and pushy”) and Europe (“too hesitant and fearful”), there is “no better partner for Europe than America and no better partner for America than Europe”.
Speaking directly of the German-American relationship, she declared: “I know, we Germans know, how much we owe to you, our American friends. We as a nation, and I personally, will never forget that.”
SPECIAL MESSAGES
Other important messages that she delivered covered such matters as:
Walls — Even after the end of the Cold War we are faced with the task of tearing down the walls between different concepts of life, in other words the walls in people’s minds that make it difficult time and again to understand one another in this world of ours. This is why the ability to show tolerance is so important . . . . Tolerance means showing respect for other people’s history, traditions, religion and cultural identity. Tolerance does not mean “anything goes”. There must be zero tolerance towards all those who show no respect for the inalienable rights of the individual and who violate human rights.
TransAtlantic Values –What brings Europeans and Americans closer together and keeps them close is a common basis of shared values. It is a common idea of the individual and his inviolable dignity. It is a common understanding of freedom in responsibility. This is what we stand for in the unique transatlantic partnership and in the community of shared values that is NATO.
Globalization – Many people are afraid of globalization. We do not just brush these concerns aside. It is our duty to convince people that globalization is an immense global opportunity, for each and every continent, because it forces us to act together with others. The alternative to globalization would be shutting ourselves off from others, but this is not a viable alternative. It would lead only to isolation and therefore misery. Thinking in terms of alliances and partnerships on the other hand, is what will take us into a good future.
Economic Cooperation — Without universally-binding rules for transparency and supervision we risk the abuse of freedom and thus instability. In a way this is a second wall that has to fall: A wall standing in the way of a truly global economic order, a wall of regional and exclusively national thinking. The key to cooperation between the major industrialized countries and emerging economies lies in the G20. To achieve prosperity and justice we must do all we can to prevent a crisis in the future. That also means not giving in to the temptation of protectionism. This is why the WTO Doha negotiations are so important. Equally, the Transatlantic Economic Council can prevent competing subsidies and give incentives to reduce trade barriers between Europe and America.
Iran — Zero tolerance must be shown if, for example, weapons of mass destruction fall into the hands of Iran and possibly threaten our security. Iran must be aware of this. Iran knows our offer, but Iran also knows where we draw the line: A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian President who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel the right to exist, is not acceptable. For me, Israel’s security will never be open to negotiation.
BODY LANGUAGE
Merkel’s visit diminished if it did not entirely eliminate the perception that she would find discomfort in a close relationship with the Obama Administration because of affinities with its predecessor. Indeed, reporters were watching for their body language and commenting on it when Merkel visited President Obama at the White House. The body language passed the “pundits’ test”.
The passion that Merket brought to issues that affect the entire human family was clear. Her admiration for much that characterizes America — its freedoms, the American dream, its natural beauty, its blue jeans — was so openly stated that it came as something of a surprise.
Yet, there are issues on which the two countries do not fully see eye to eye. The extent of government intervention required to maintain the early signs of post-recession momentum is one of them.
Merkel is not a market-fundamentalist. Germany announced a cash-for-clunkers program before the US did. Still, with a more right-of-center government in office, differences of approach between the two countries could be aggravated and, certainly, will need careful management.
The most important point of contention could be policy toward Afghanistan where, currently, the two countries work in partnership. Describing the international community’s commitment in Afghanistan as “undoubtedly a tough one,” she acknowledged that “it places great demands on all of us, and it must be taken into the next phase as soon as the new Afghan government is in office.”
For the German Government, the next phase involves handing over responsibility to the Afghan Government through a UN conference early next year. Miracles happen, perhaps, but it is going to be difficult to expect the Karzai government whose writ seems to run only in the presidential palace at Kabul to take over national governance without continued external help.
Besides, whatever the final outcome of the deliberations taking place at the White House, the chances are that the US commitment in Afghanistan will last longer than until early next year.
Never mind the wrinkles, though. This is not a time to think of potential conflict but to celebrate Germany’s triumph 20 years ago. (IDN-InDepthNews/05.11.09)
Copyright © 2009 IDN-InDepthNews Service
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The writer has served as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Canada, Cuba, Mexico, and the USA. He was Chairman of the Commonwealths Select Committee on the media and development, Editor of the Ceylon ‘Daily News’ and the Ceylon ‘Observer’, and was for a time Features Editor and Foreign Affairs columnist of the Singapore ‘Straits Times’. He is on the IDN editorial board.
