In the Trump era we hear a lot about how America has forfeited the trust and friendship of our allies, like the Germans:
I'm not saying we shouldn't try to improve our image in Europe, but if Germans think China is better than America in whatever way polls ask, that's Germany's problem. That's nuts. How can German opinion move toward a horrible China at the expense of an allied and democratic America? I don't buy that Germans want American leadership on the Xi Jinping Flu pandemic. If Trump was telling Germans and Europeans what to do, raise your hands if you think Germans would be saluting and executing. Anyone? ...
Anyone? And yes, German opinions of America shot up when Obama was president. But what exactly did that provide America? Help in the Middle East? Rearmament to contain Russia? Cheap schnitzel imports? Their good will and a buck got us a small coffee. So address the issue but don't obsess. There was a lot of BS in that article.
CBS provided a good example of the blame Trump line of attack (via Instapundit):
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, is to resign from his post after two years that have seen transatlantic relations strained in a way they haven't been for decades. ...
Grenell dismissed accusations that he was interfering in Germany's internal affairs as "absurd," but his overt pressure on Berlin on a number of contentious topics strained ties between the allies[.]
So I found this excerpt from Donald Kagan's On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace (p. 482) fascinating:
Kennedy, speaking of the characteristic mistrust the Germans felt toward his administration, compared them to the wife who continually asked her husband if he loved her. "When he keeps saying that he does, she demands, 'But do you really love me?'--and then has him trailed by detectives."
Yeah, I'm think its them and not us.
China is their soul mate? Because of Trump?
America rebuilt Germany rather than destroy it after World War II, embraced and defended them in the Cold War, and championed reunification with East Germany after the Cold War.
But the Germans doubt us and look for fake infidelity, while flirting with communist China?
Maybe democracy and de-Nazification didn't take hold as well as we think. Good to know.
