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Journalism of Courage
The eminent historian Fritz Stern of Columbia University recently mused that the West has never faced a more formidable array of threats with such a weak cast of leaders as today. In the United States, George W. Bush limps into the twilight of his presidency saddled with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, nuclear challenges from Iran and North Korea, and both houses of Congress controlled by his Democratic opponents. Across the Atlantic, the 27-nation European Union confronts a paralysing crisis of confidence while its two longest-serving leaders, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac, prepare to leave office with their legacies badly tarnished by failures at home and abroad. Is there anybody who can fill this vacuum of power and statesmanship?
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany seems willing to try. This month Germany assumes the rotating presidencies of the EU and the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrial nations, and Merkel is approaching both missions with zeal and ambition. She wants to fortify bonds between Europe and the United States through an open trans-Atlantic market, build a new strategic partnership with Russia, launch bold initiatives on energy security and climate change, revive the roadmap toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement and break the deadlock over Europe’s constitutional treaty. It is an uncustomary vanguard role for Germany, long regarded as an economic giant and a political dwarf. But in the 15 years since Germany’s unification, a new generation has demonstrated a yearning to shed reticent postwar traditions and wield greater clout in world affairs.
Since taking the helm of a grand coalition linking her Christian Democrats with left-leaning Social Democrats in 2005, Merkel has soothed tensions with Washington and cultivated a friendly rapport with Bush, as reflected in last week’s convivial meeting at the White House. She has soft-pedaled Germany’s demand for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, reaffirmed NATO’s primacy as Europe’s security guarantor and bolstered military commitments in the Balkans and Afghanistan. While personally popular, Merkel has seen her government lose support at home because of its failure to enact far-reaching reforms despite a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag. As a result, she seems even more determined to pursue a higher profile abroad during Germany’s dual presidencies in order to shore up her domestic fortunes.
But the agenda she has chosen is daunting and may carry more risks than rewards. First, Merkel wants the United States and Europe to cope with the Asian economic challenge by eliminating the last barriers between them on trade and investment. Despite all the hype about China and India as the dominant economic powers of the 21st century, the trans-Atlantic market still amounts to some $3 trillion, or about 60 per cent of the world’s commercial activity. If the Doha Round of global trade talks collapses, some economists believe the United States and Europe will need to take urgent measures of the kind Merkel is proposing to stave off a sharp plunge in confidence on world markets.
Next, Merkel wants to draw Russia into a strategic partnership in order to secure Western access to Siberian oil and gas and diminish the dependency on the volatile Middle East. But Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is driving a hard bargain. He has resisted Germany’s calls to relax his authoritarian ways and develop more peaceful and prosperous relations with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. Russia has also threatened to veto Western efforts to secure Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, which the United States and Germany fear could lead to renewed instability in the Balkans. Merkel may also face difficulties with the United States in linking greater energy security in the West with a concerted policy on climate change. The Bush administration dismayed European allies by rejecting the Kyoto accords, and there is sharp disagreement over the use of nuclear power in the fight against global warming.
In the Middle East, Merkel wants to exploit Germany’s close ties with Israel and good contacts with Syria and Iran to breathe new life into the moribund efforts to establish peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories. Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier recently concluded a tour of the Middle East, offering to serve as a back channel for any peaceful overtures among hostile parties, including the possible exchange of prisoners. And given its strong commercial ties with Iran, Germany will continue to play a key role along with the five members of the UN Security Council in shaping international sanctions to persuade Iran to forswear nuclear weapons.
Besides those gargantuan tasks, Merkel also hopes to find a way to resurrect Europe’s constitutional treaty, which has lain dormant since France and the Netherlands rejected it in 2005 referendums. To succeed in meeting that challenge, she may have to wait for new leaders to take office in France and Britain. But clearly, it’s Germany’s moment.
