Biden discovered that the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines to Germany is a good pipeline. What does this whole affair say about our German ally?
Biden and Blinken may associate acquiescence to Berlin with sophisticated diplomacy and may assume that Germany stands for the same values as the United States, but this would be a mistake. Simply put, Germany is neither a good ally nor does its leadership share the same liberal, democratic worldview as the United States.
Yes. Germans strengthen the main military threat to NATO and refuse to carry their weight in NATO defense efforts.
And yes, the Germans don't quite share the same worldview as the U.S. People forget the effects of post-World War II American influence on Europeans:
It is easy to forget--and this was a useful reminder to me--that Europe with its autocracies and monarchies was not fully part of a free West (although obviously part of the Western tradition) until we rebuilt Western Europe in that template after World War II. And NATO expansion after defeating the Soviet Union was more explicit in demanding democracy and rule of law for new members.
The Europe as we know it has existed for so long that we forget that real democracy was not as uniform across the continent as we see now. And it in many ways is not "natural" for many Europeans. American influence holds back the tide of continental autocratic culture. That culture is the foundation of the European Union.
And maybe Germans don't appreciate what their stated reasons for not meeting NATO defense goals say about Germany's fealty to rule of law democracy. The Germans say that they don't spend more on defense because of this reason? Really? "But there is another component to the case of Germany, [German foreign
minister] Gabriel said, and it has to do with post-World War II
sensitivities." As I reacted to that quote that I included in that post:
Stop us before we rampage across Europe again? Are you effing kidding me? That's your excuse? After over 70 years of not being Nazis you are claiming that under the veneer of democracy you are just a bunch of barely restrained thugs eager to rampage around Europe? Really? ...
Seriously, is German unwillingness to pay for common defense in line with their economic status so strong that the Germans are willing to argue that they are barely suppressed Nazis at heart despite 70+ years of being part of the West with freedom and democracy?
If the Germans say they aren't to be trusted with sharp knives and actually believe it is true, maybe NATO and Russia should just pull back a safe distance and nuke the place just to be sure.
West Germany was a solid ally on the frontline of the Cold War. Did East Germany infect them? Or is it just the distance from Russia that is the reason? What happened? But something happened. And we must cope.
America must strengthen NATO and resist the German-dominated European Union to resist losing our great achievement of World War II and the Cold War in creating a free Europe from the Atlantic to the Russian border.
If we don't, Europe could very easily one day be a threat to America as it was throughout the 20th century.
