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Sunday, March 26. 2006
Carnival of German-American Relations, Second Edition
Posted by Joerg Wolf in Transatlantic Relations on Sunday, March 26. 2006
Welcome to our transatlantic dialogue! Excellent blog posts about various aspects of U.S.-German relations from both sides of the Atlantic (and the Pacific), in English and in German were submitted and are now introduced to you. A large variety of political opinions and perspectives and well-written arguments provide a lot of food for thought and controversial debates. After a careful selection we are presenting to you 30 of the more than forty submissions. The posts deal with these topics:
1. American and German perceptions of each other
2. Anti-Americanism and Pro-Americanism
3. The German media coverage of the U.S.
4. "Hitler's Gift" to America and the Nazi Slur
5. German and Muslim Immigration
6. Europe is the empire, not the U.S.
7. More criticism of German policies concerning the U.S.
8. Optimistic Outlook on US-German relations
You don't have to read this entire carnival post at once. Bookmark this page and return anytime ;-) Okay, here we go:
American and German perceptions of each other
• Dr. Demarche writes about the strong ties, the shared history and the similarities between the US and Germany, which outweigh the differences. The US has done so much for West-Germany during the Cold War and afterwards for the reunification. After attending the German-American Volksfest in 2004, Dr. D. was confronted in the subway with the wide-spread sentiment in Germany that the US has "become a too violent player on the world stage." Still, he believes that:
petty differences have blossomed and become major issues, on both sides of the Atlantic. I would venture to say that the average German has nothing against the average American, and vice versa. Elites on both sides of the ocean, fueled by, and at the same time fueling, the media propagate the idea that a vast gulf separates Americans and Europeans. (...) It is up to us, Germans and Americans, to look for the similarities and to recognize that the differences do not make us enemies or mean that we can not work together to solve common problems, but rather that those differences may hold the key to reaching viable solutions.
Berlin Airlift in 1948-49 (Photo Source: U.S. Air Forces in Europe)
• Adger has the impression that the U.S. and the German government pretend to normalize transatlantic relations again, while the confrontation between German and U.S. citizens gets uglier. Germans and Americans call each other naïve fools and ignorant imperialists. The debate has become increasingly personal and less issue orientated on both sides. Differentiations are unpopular and the few Americans and Germans who can empathize with those on the other side of the Atlantic are insulted: Germans who say that they can relate to some US polices are called "imperialistic pigs" by the compatriots, while Americans who express sympathy for European attitudes are called "weasels" or "unpatriotic," which is synonymous to "anti-American" and – in sharp contrast to German customs -- one of the worst insults for an American, opines Adger very eloquently in his German blog Tapirherde. Google provides the English translation.
Google's translation is often quite awful, but the best machine translation we know of. If you can read some German, but need to look up a few words, then Leo will be of great service to you. LEO übersetzt auch englische Wörter ins Deutsche. Wir benutzen es ständig und können es wärmsten empfehlen.
• Michael Meyn writes about the contradicting mindsets of Americans and Germans in Misunderestimated Germans. He blames the German MSM for the strained U.S.-German relations and expresses his hope in a more diverse online media. I think the "clashing mindsets" he is discussing is not just a confrontation between the German and the American mindset, but also between the liberal and the conservative mindset. Perhaps the clash is not only primarily national, but rather political. It just appears to be a national mindset confrontation, because there are more conservatives in the US than in Germany and more liberals in Germany than in the US. Does this thesis of mine make sense? (Our US carnival host Marc Schulman opines about a different point I made during the first carnival: "The center of gravity of German politics is significantly further to the left (liberal) side." Read his entire carnival introduction at American Future.)
Back to the Misunderestimated Germans: Michael says "It's almost impossible to find a person who doesn’t have anything bad to say about the President of the United States." While Bush supporters are a minority in Germany, there are many in the German blogosphere. Ulrike is a GOP-Germany member and a new blogger submitting an article of her's from 2004, expressing her wish that President Bush will govern four more years, please.
Anti-Americanism and Pro-Americanism• Swiss Blogger Greg Grabinski is soon publishing his paper "Anti-Americanism in Europe: a historic disease." Read a German summary in his blog A New European and/or this abstract from his upcoming paper:
Anti-Americanism in Europe is a sentiment that has existed since the creation of America itself. Since then, European thinkers have discussed and discredited America, often without a single visit to the country. They saw in America a degenerate nation with no culture and money as its only religion. These views were mostly born out of 19th Century Romanticism and remain today. Both, before, between and after the world wars, America was perceived as the great liberator, and simultaneously an empire with imperialistic intentions. During the Cold War, America was needed as protector, while despised as before especially true during the Vietnam War and by the socialists of '68 who saw in America nothing less then the imperialistic evil. After the fall of the Soviet empire, America remained the sole superpower on the globe. During this period, all the old clichés of America came back and Europe envied America's liberty to do whatever she liked - something the Europeans have lost. Today, the anti-Americans use such old prejudices rather more subtly, and sometimes not. The reactions to 9/11 have shown that the resentment is profound and that it reemerges even in America's hours of darkness.• Carsten Boesel writes about the importance and popularity of U.S.-German exchange programs. More US students than ever are studying in Germany this academic year. Carsten talked two students from Duke and NYU, who enjoy life in Berlin and have good personal relations to their guest families, but suffer from their constant criticism of US policies. Although Erica and Dave describe themselves as liberals, they are blamed and made to feel guilty for being American. The guest parents are educated, one guest mother has even lived in the US, but nevertheless they are prejudiced and don't seem to learn from the Americans they are hosting. Erica acknowledges, however, that their US friends don't suffer from this. Read Carsten's post in English or in German. His blog is called TransatlanTicker and focuses on studies, internships and further education in the US.
• Olaf Petersen encountered prejudices, when he was in Washington D.C.: "I often was greeted Heil Hitler - we've bombed you, hardeeharhar! Not in the Pentagon but in restaurants and bars - some of the most disturbing experiences I was to make there." In Mexico, however, he was positively associated with Beckenbauer, the popular German soccer player. Moreover, Olaf points out that the U.S. has succeeded in denazifying Germany, so that Germans are extremely reluctant to go to war again. Don't blame us, when we don't support your wars, he seems to say in his Extrablog.
• Why are the above mentioned guest families and many other Germans and Europeans so fond of criticizing the US? Kathy Krajco says it's because of
Europe's shame over the breath-taking brutality in the world wars and the great fall of its empires. Frankly, I wish Europeans would get off the guilt trip already. We are the principal victims of it. Delusions of superiority disable people so that they can't handle guilt and shame like honest people do. Instead they project it all -- correction: they project the semblance of it all -- off onto a scapegoat. In this case, us.Kathy recommends in her blog At the Zoo that Europeans should get over their violent past and deal with the many current problems rather than being obsessed with the US.
• In the meantime, perhaps Erica, Dave and other expats, who suffer from lectures about the US wrongdoings, should join "Americans Anonymous," founded by Erik Svane, who blogs at ¡No Pasarán! about what is "Behind the Façades in France":
"Hello, my name is Eric, and I'm an American."Americans Anonymous is a funny, but also a serious and well-argued post full of advice how to deal with constant criticism from Europeans. For example Eric recommends to respond to popular criticism of the Iraq war and the death penalty by inquiring about the protest against the war in Congo (with much more casualties) or the much higher number of executions in China.
"HELLO, ERIC!"
"I used to be embarrassed to admit I carried a U.S. passport, and ashamed in turn to be embarrassed about that. These dark secrets led to feelings of guilt and to an evil circle from which I couldn't escape. That's when I discovered AA (Americans Anonymous). Thanks to this 12-step group, and to the fellowship of like-minded people, I have learned true humility.
• Karsten Dürotin believes that many Americans misunderstand the criticism: Most Germans are not Anti-American. Criticism of the US and big demonstrations against the Iraq war should rather be seen as a compliment. Most Germans like America, admire and import a lot from the US. Therefore Germans have a keen interest in U.S. policies. Most Germans consider Americans as friends, and believe that the U.S. will listen to them. This might be naïve, but that's how it is, Karsten opines. Germans, however, don't assume that Congo or North Korea would pay any attention to their criticism. Read Karsten's German post in Liberale Stimme Online or read Google's English Translation.
• Don't be afraid of Anti-Americanism, it's only business! And the bookstore at the Pentagon subway station offers the world's largest collection of Anti-American literature, writes Olaf Petersen in Extrablog. Google's English translation.
• The contrast: Check out Marian Wirth's eloquent three part series about his Kafkaesque Transformation The day I woke as pro-American, Part I, Part II and Part III
The German media coverage of the U.S.
• Davids Medienkritik has been analyzing and criticizing the German media coverage of the U.S. for nearly three years now. This blog by two Germans, one of them (Ray) holds U.S. citizenship as well, has been one of the pioneers of the German blogosphere and a big supporter of this carnival. In his in-depth analysis of the German public TV program "Der Weltspiegel," David concludes:
"Weltspiegel's" reports from the USA are marked by an overwhelmingly arrogant, critical, know-it-all posture of moral superiority that’s become routine for the German left since the Vietnam war. Pro-Bush Americans appear on "Weltspiegel" as naïve jerks who are paid tribute only if they turn critical of the war in Iraq. On the other hand, leftist Bush critics constantly get complaisant opportunities to present their positions.You can read his post in English and in German.
• Ray's contribution is Rushing to Judge America: A Blinding German Obsession:
A morbid obsession with American crimes, real and perceived, has replaced most authentic concern for international human rights. (...) It is not our intent at Davids Medienkritik to quell or discourage discussion on the legitimacy of Guantanamo as a means of dealing with stateless enemy combatants or the very real abuses at Abu Ghraib. The very opposite is true. (...) The central question is one of constructive versus destructive criticism. When we look out across the German media landscape over the past three to four years and beyond, we see far too much of the latter and far too little of the former. That has to change. If it doesn't, meaningful dialog will continue to grow increasingly difficult and the German-American partnership will continue to disintegrate.• Similarly, I have claimed in my submission Why is Abu Ghraib a cover story again, but not Darfur? that the German media coverage of international politics is focused on the U.S. (especially negative stories) and underreports the most awful humanitarian stories from around the world.
• Winds of Change starts with Ray's post and draws harsher conclusions:
[Wash Post Columnist and author] Anne Applebaum referred to the phenomenon as "parallel information universes." Which is apt, but really it's just the beginning. Read enough, and it's hard to escape the conclusion that a lot of the stuff in the German and European media goes beyond the merely insular or hypocritical - and rises very nearly to the level of organized hate. Which is not entirely surprising to some of us.
German pumps in action in New Orleans. Photo: THW (German Technical Relief Agency). Source and more info: The Quaker Economist.
"Hitler's Gift" to America and the Nazi Slur
• Dialog International, an outstanding U.S. blog on "German-American Opinion: Politics and Culture" writes:
German influence on American political thought has never been greater. The ghosts of the Weimar Republic are haunting us still today. The amazing influx of artists, scientists and intellectuals from Germany from 1932 to 1945 was "Hitler's gift" to America.David focuses on Leo Strauss and Hannah Arendt, who "represent the two poles of the ideological struggle that began in the Weimar Republic and which continues even today in America."
• Indeterminacy, "an American living in Europe since the late 1980's", translates the work from the prominent Weimar Republic satirists and critic Kurt Tucholsky, "because not only was he uncannily accurate in predicting Germany's future, many of his works produce eerie undertones when held against the backdrop of contemporary America."
• Done With Mirrors discusses the use of the "Nazi" insult and how American G.I.s identified with Germans the most of all the peoples they encountered in WWII:
The Allies had a policy of distinguishing between "good" and "bad" Germans. Our enemies usually were not "Germans," but "Nazis," or even "Hitler." But in the Pacific, it was "the Japs," or even "the Jap." Probably this was because of the Germans' nearness to us in race and culture. In the Pacific War, the good/bad dichotomy took place on the level of "Asian." The "good" Asians were the Chinese and the Filipinos -- on our side. (....) But there is something about the Germans' stagger into darkness in the 1930s that thoughtful Americans can take as a warning. It's particularly worth our while to study and learn that dreadful wrong turn, and how it happened. And maybe, by keeping the "Nazi" insult alive as the worst one in our cultural vocabulary, the partisan loudmouths are doing us a small favor.
Immigration
• Thought You'd Never Ask writes:
The more I learn about the problems of immigrant Muslims in western countries, the more similarities I see between their situation and the situation that existed among the communities of German immigrants here in the U.S. before the World Wars. The German immigrants too had to face the question of how far to assimilate in their new homeland, what traditions and customs and values to jettison (or to say goodbye to when circumstances stripped them away), and what to embrace (or at least tolerate with an uneasy truce).• GM Roper, who co-hosted our first carnival, is on the one hand concerned that Germans still do not take "the threat of Islamo-fascism" seriously and one other hand concerned that the German courts might ban the Quran, because a fringe group has "gone to the prosecutors of several states to hinder the dissemination of the Quran" according to Jyllands-Posten. George opines "Banning the Quran is far too close to the book burnings of the Nazi era in Germany, the novel Fahrenheit 451, and even the destruction of rock and roll records seen in this country not too many moons ago." IMHO his post Let Us Hope Germany Doesn't Go Down This Road Again demonstrates a lack of trust in Germany's democracy, but, please, make up your own mind: As with all introductions here: Check out the posts, form you own opinion and let the authors know what you think. All carnival participants are open-minded fellows, who appreciate feedback and enjoy a tough, honest debate.
• One more post concerning an immigration issue: Pigilito quotes the Atlantic Review on brain drain from Germany to the US and adds that "the benefit to the US has been calculated to be around $50 billion." (Got a source for that number? Another question from me: Shouldn't the US be grateful that Germany sends you top-notch graduates? Isn't that much more significant than any contribution to the Iraq war would have been? ;-))
Europe is the empire, not the U.S.
• Alan Posener, in charge of the editorial page at the Welt am Sonntag newspaper and the Apocalypso Blogger, submitted his essay "The Empire of Europe." Although the U.S. is often called an empire, it is really the European Union, which is following an imperial path in the Balkans and elsewhere, he argues:
One only has to compare the conduct of the United States in Iraq, which it defeated militarily and occupied, with that of the European Union toward its nominally independent neighbor Turkey. The Americans will withdraw from Iraq as soon as the country is halfway capable of providing security for its citizens. They will leave behind a relatively (compared to other Arab states) democratic, federal Islamic republic. It certainly is not a republic in the United States' own image – and its future remains open. Turkey, by contrast, will be working through the 80,000 pages of the acquis communautaire, which regulates all aspects of political, legal, and economic activity in the European Union. The Turks will have to prove that they have implemented these regulations, even before the country joins the European Union! The countries formerly under Russian domination had to achieve the same feat of homogenization.Alan provides in Apocalypso both a German version and an English version.
• Speaking of the European Union's acquis communautaire: Clarsonimus, the "amnesic American lost in Berlin," writes about the German bureaucracy as one of his favorite Herrschaftsformen (ways of being ruled). Empire, monarchy, aristocracy, autocracy... forget it, it's bureaucracy! Fortunately bureaucracy is forbidden by law in the US, he says. ;-))
More criticism of German policies concerning the U.S.
• Knickerbocker News is angry that a German court released a convicted Hezbollah highjacker who murdered U.S. Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem in Beirut in 1985 and was in a German jail for 19 years: "The USA has been trying to persuade Germany to release him to US custody ever since. Germany has not complied, and now they have let him free."
• Fred Fry International asks Whose Side is Germany On?:
Germany is supposed to be our ally, but there seems to be nothing in their recent actions to prove that this is true. In fact, one can say that Germany is actively working against the US, on many fronts.• Kuch mentions the assistance Germany's Intelligence Agency provided to the Iraq war, but would like to see A Little Even-handedness.
Optimistic Outlook on US-German relations
• George A. Pieler and Jens F. Laurson at TCS Daily are optimistic about Germany under Chancellor Merkel's leadership and looks forward to improved transatlantic relations:
In Washington she broke new ground, or rather re-conquered ground abandoned by the blustery Gerhard Schröder. Surely but subtly Merkel is nudging Berlin’s foreign policy a bit closer to the US-UK Atlantic Alliance, delicately relaxing links with the Franco-Russian entente that so entrances Schröder. The question is: can she manage these power relations to strengthen US-German relations without weakening Germany’s role in Europe. If history offers any guidance, the answer is yes. Unlike her predecessor but much like her former mentor, Helmut Kohl, Merkel has a solid grasp of the role Germany has played in global affairs since Adenauer. Germany has succeeded by ‘tipping the scales’ at crucial moments ("Zünglein an der Waage").• Flex Blue is optimistic about US-German relations, convinced that "Americans need the cooperation and friendship of Europeans, and vice versa" and believes that Chancellor Merkel and President Bush understand this basic need and share other perceptions as well. "Both leaders appear to recognize that the common adversary -- Islamic jihadists -- are a relatively small subset of the Muslim world."
• Bruce Miller is more skeptical:
I'm sure Merkel would like to repair relations with the US. But will the Bush administration let her? It's hard to see how that's gone very far at this point. If anything, the disputes over torture and CIA kidnapping have raised even more problems for European governments, including Germany, to cooperate with the US on counterterrorism work. And while the Bush and his senior officials may be less personally resentful of Merkel than of Schröder, the foreign minister is a Social Democrat in her Grand Coalition government. And other than atmospherics, it's not clear to me that Merkel is breaking with the previous government's policies in any significant way, so far, including relations with America. Joschka Fischer, the Green foreign minister in Schröder's government, was actually considered to be one of the most "pro-American" of the European foreign ministers.Last but not least
• We received an interesting post from as far away as Japan: Global American Discourse submitted Iran Review: America, Europe, and Japan at Crossroads to Deal With Nuclear Theocracy.
There is even more!
Have a look at the different take on these posts, the different introductions and a slightly different selections of the more than forty submissions: Check out Statler & Waldorf's carnival post in German (or Google's English translation) as well as American Future's carnival post in the United States.You can access all 40+ submitted posts and future submissions in our Carnival Submissions Blog. This blog is permanent and accepts submissions for the next carnival in three months. Just send a trackback and your post will be listed. The German and the American host of the next carnival will pick the best submissions and present them on their blogs on June 11th.
Continue to submit posts!
We strongly encourage you to submit good posts on US-German whenever you write them. Don't wait till June. Thanks to the many blogs who display the carnival logo in their sidebar and link to the Carnival Submissions Blog, the previous submissions have been read by many readers prior to this carnival. Please keep the Carnival logo on your blogs so that there is a constant stream of visitors checking out the latest posts on transatlantic relations. Here is the HTML code for the big carnival logo and for the small carnival logo. Thank you!
Thank you, Jim, for designing the logo. Jim Bass works for Bassworks and blogs for the Attack Machine.
"Thank you!" to all carnival participants and the many bloggers who have promoted this carnival in their blogs and continue to do so!
I think we are improving the transatlantic dialogue and the ties between the German and the U.S. blogosphere. Keep up the good work.
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Email Joerg Wolf and Kyle Atwell at:
ar-team AT atlanticreview.org
We are available for interviews, and appreciate feedback and suggestions.
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We are available for interviews, and appreciate feedback and suggestions.
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Joerg Wolf and I established the German American Relations Blog Carnival in December 2005, and, if I may add, it was quite successful. This quarter, the carnival is hosted by two more terrific blogs (With Atlantic Review providing assistance as well). English language entries are at American Future and have a terrific bunch of entries all well worth reading... Comments ()
Tracked: Mar 26, 03:32
Moscow's spies are at it again, officials say German State Elections Strengthen Merkel The empire of Europe (An eye-opener: Thanks to Atlantic Review's invaluable Carnival of German-American Relations collection of blog posts.) In Iraq and Israel, The Fix Is In... Comments ()
Tracked: Mar 27, 16:36
Organized by Atlantic ReviewWant this badge? The Carnival of German-American Relations went well, with 30 International and German bloggers particiating. Including Winds of Change.NET's "The German Question: Darfur, Diplomacy & the European Media," which noted... Comments ()
Tracked: Mar 28, 20:34
I'm late on this, but wanted to make sure you checked out the second edition of the Blog Carnival on German-American Relations. There were over 40 submissions from German and American bloggers, and the three blog carnival hosts have presented selections in their carnival coverage. Comments ()
Tracked: Mar 28, 21:53
Joerg has done it again, only this time there are more people particating. It is wonderful! Great job, everyone. Even those with whom I disagree. This is a better way to discuss our differences. I encourage everyone to take the time to read all of the posts. Comments ()
Tracked: Mar 30, 12:35