Obama Woos Angela Merkel
It is hard to judge whether Barack Obama is an avid Spider-Man fan or not, but with his latest humble reception of Angela Merkel, Obama indirectly underlined his strong belief in Uncle Ben’s one liner “With great power comes great responsibility” The reason for this may not seem clear at first but can be deduced from the fact that compliments in general when accepted by the counterpart come with a burden to act upon them. And Obama has been splashing Angela Merkel with compliments over the past weeks.
For a man with an impressive curriculum vitae and social background like Barack Obama it is quite the statement to declare Angela Merkel’s life story as an inspiration for himself and a “…inspiration to us all…” Following a pompous military ceremony and 19 shots of salutation, Merkel became the first European head of state to receive the Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama. With this bold statement Obama has not only tried to re-ignite the transatlantic passion of Angela Merkel but to also highlight the “power”, which Germany holds as the economic engine of the European Union and as the fourth largest economy of the world.
In the midst of increasing uncertainty in the international arena, Obama has by honouring Merkel’s path and achievement tried to remind Germany to punch according to its heavyweight class, rather than to seek the lowest common denominator in organizations such as the United Nations, or opt out of crises like Libya. This is exemplified by the statement of Obama in, which he asks Germany not to “…hide behind...[it’s]…history” but rather to go ahead and lead in this new interconnected world of ours.
Obama may not be giving out intimate neck-rubs as George W. Bush did back in his days but it has become clear that Obama and Merkel have come together one a much more personal yet professional level, respecting each others achievements and together striving to outperform the BRICS, Asian Tigers and “growth markets” of this world. In the end Merkel’s rise may also coincide with the clear absence of viable European political leaders in times of a hyperactive Nicolas Sarkozy, a promiscuous Silvio Berlusconi and an inward-looking David Cameron.