OPINION: German Dysfunction

The possibility of an isolationist U.S. President increases the odds that Europeans must defend themselves against Russia. But who will be in charge? Why hasn’t its richest nation, Germany, taken the lead?

It’s perplexing that largest economy in Europe, and third largest economy in the world, hasn’t led Europe politically nor morally in its hour of need against Russia. In fact, on July 17 Berlin’s ballyhooed military budget increase announced last year for Ukraine was sliced in half even after revelations that a Russian plot to assassinate the head of its biggest arms company was thwarted.

Many Germans also oppose plans by Washington to place long-range weapons inside their country to protect them from Moscow. Since the 2022 invasion, German leaders have been slow to condemn Russia, to provide weapons, or to deploy their manufacturing might to arm and defend Ukraine. What’s up with this?

Post-war pacifism, guilt, and collective trauma following the hideous Hitler era are factors, but so is cynical self-interest and corruption. The fact is that Germany’s leadership has close links to Moscow and Putin and still does. To make sense of this perplexing situation, I interviewed Jessica Berlin, a German and American political analyst, consultant, and Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). Her remarks follow.

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The legacy of WWII underpins both Germany’s rudderless leadership and public opinion. “For the last 50 years, Germany has cultivated and maintained a self-image of the ‘country of never again’.” she said.

“Our timidity in security and foreign policy issues was seen as a virtue. For the past generations of politicians, not having a defense plan was the plan, the US guaranteed our security and other European countries didn’t want to see a strong Germany throwing its weight around internationally. And the prevailing narrative among West German voters became pacifism, that war was the ultimate evil, the thing that must be avoided at all cost. This came from an honest place among regular citizens. It comes from a real place in history and psychology…but ignores the fact that some wars are just and necessary, to protect the innocent and stop violent aggressors. Absolute pacifism only works in the absence of absolute evil. And we don’t live in that world yet.”

How should Germany’s leadership deal with this? “Unfortunately our leadership does not lead. In a time of national, continental, and global crisis, Germany needs a leader with vision and courage who can tackle the challenges we face head on, and have a long overdue conversation with the German people as to why and how we need to evolve and grow as a nation. Instead, we have Olaf Scholz as Chancellor and Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Federal President -- two co-architects of our failed Russia policies of the last 20 years,” she said.

It’s not coincidental, by the way, that Vladimir Putin speaks perfect German and spent 16 years in Germany as a KGB operative. He understands the country, and built close relationships with key individuals in the Social Democratic party. Current leaders President Steinmeier and Chancellor Scholz came up through the ranks of that left-leaning party as did Gerhard Schröder who was Chancellor from 1999 to 2004.

He was Scholz’s mentor and Steinmeier was Schröder’s Chief of Staff and a cabinet minister for years — and Schröder is a friend of Putin’s and has become wealthy as a Russian lobbyist and director of Russian energy companies. Many believe he has been a Russian “asset” for years and he also has influenced former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who became Chancellor in 2005. She is a member of the Christian Democrat Party and is from East Germany but adopted and executed Schröder’s “pro Russia” policies, signing pipeline deals that benefitted Moscow. In 2017, she made Steinmeier President and in 2021 Scholz took over as Chancellor. 

In April 2022 after the invasion, President Steinmeier was disinvited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from attending a high level meeting in Kyiv because of his “close ties to Russia” even after President Steinmeier recanted. On April 4, Steinmeier admitted: “My sticking to [the Baltic Sea pipeline project] Nord Stream 2, that was definitely a mistake.

We held on to bridges that Russia no longer believed in, and of which our partners warned us. We failed to build a common European house. I did not believe Vladimir Putin would embrace his country’s complete economic, political and moral ruin for the sake of his imperial madness.”

According to Ms. Berlin, this acknowledgement was not enough. “The Federal Presidency is symbolic, Steinmeier is meant to be a moral steward of the country. He should either have resigned on February 24 after the full-scale invasion, or become the loudest advocate for Ukraine’s defense and Russia’s defeat in the country.”

Jessica Berlin said Germans need leaders who can explain that power is not just for the bad guys. “We are only a democracy today and live in freedom and peace because the allies fought against us. On the most simplistic level: Millions of regular people stood up, with weapons, and killed enough Nazi soldiers until they won the war. And that brutal, deadly reality hasn’t sunk in for so many Germans: When a fascist genocidal power bent on destruction strikes, there is no negotiation tactic or magical diplomatic phrase that can stop it. They will keep going until they win, unless they are stopped by force.”

“Germans need a national conversation about why we got Russia so wrong. We need to demand accountability for the combination of incompetence and corruption that brought us to this point. Instead, we have two of Schröder’s boys — Steinmeier and Scholz from the SPD – in top jobs in government who’ve confused the conversation and have if anything entrenched German fears and emboldened the Russia supporters on the far right and far left.”

“One of the most jarring things about the war for me as a German is to see how few Germans learned the right lessons from the war,” said Berlin. Scholz in two years has made “huge progress” but it’s “too little, too late, too slow, and the cost for that delay is paid in Ukrainian lives.”

The narrative she hopes Germans will one day embrace: “Germans today are the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of the war. Our nation inherited a peace that others fought and died for … This should be our moment, a historical opportunity to pay that debt forward. And above all, as co-enablers of Russia’s descent into fascism and war on Ukraine, Germany has a responsibility to do everything to speed Ukrainian victory now.”