Obama Moves to Heal Rift with Merkel

The recent White House statement announcing that Angela Merkel would receive her “Medal of Freedom” at a June 7th state dinner came as a surprise to many. The last state dinner for Germany was in 1992 for German President Richard von Weizsäcker.  The Merkel dinner also comes at a time when U.S – German relations have taken a dip.

Relations seem at a low-point especially after Germany’s cautious abstention from the UN Security Council resolution authorizing the intervention in Libya. Before the Libyan crisis, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle was referred to as “Guido Who?”  Now, he’s fallen from grace and is known as the guy who backed out of aiding the Libyan intervention.

Obama applauded the efforts of Americas "…closest allies…the UK, France, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Italy, Spain, Greece and Turkey” throughout the Libyan crisis. By not mentioning Germany directly, he made sure to highlight the German government’s apathetic approach to Libya. The Libyan crisis is a new low point in a slowly but steadily deteriorating U.S – German relationship.

Patching up ties could be difficult especially with another setback: the resignation of Defense Minister Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg.  In Guttenberg, the U.S. lost a solid transatlantic partner who enjoyed a high level of confidence and support in U.S. defense circles, where he was deemed competent, and understanding of America’s foreign policy goals. Guttenberg himself represented a Germany better acquainted with and more comfortable with “foreign military operations.”

As Charles Kupchan from Georgetown University, (Director for European Affairs on the National Security Council under Bill Clinton) puts it:

Washington has been impressed with French and British leadership on the issue, [Libya] while Germany has certainly isolated itself within the trans-Atlantic community by abstaining on the UN vote. Germany did not just sit out the Libyan operation -- as other NATO members have chosen to do. Rather, Berlin has made amply clear its discomfort with the decision in favor of intervention.

By hosting Angela Merkel this summer, it seems Obama is trying to ease the current tensions in U.S – German relations.  Of course there are also domestic political considerations: the state dinner is a perfect opportunity for Obama to present his “presidential” qualities, which he will be sure to highlight throughout his re-election campaign. The dinner may also help Obama re-ignite the German media’s mania surrounding his 2008 campaign after he spoke in Berlin.

But will Obama’s attempt to mend fences work? We can only hope that that U.S – German relations do improve and we don’t see another transatlantic standoff similar to the George W. Bush – Gerhard Schröder era.

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