Foreign Policy

The protocol war

US President George W. Bush nurtures the opposition in Berlin with a surprise coup. The Chancellor, on the other hand, is not quite as successful in achieving German-American rapprochement. By Ralf Beste, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Ralf Neukirch

Two middle-aged men in dark suits step onto a small podium. Behind them hand nine flags in the warm spring sunlight. A pigeon flutters past, and a police helicopter circles in the distance.

The photographers point their heavy lenses at the two men, television cameras run, reporters scribble into their notebooks - and the men assure their audience that they have just had a very open and friendly discussion. Everything is over within less than four minutes. The men shake hands without looking each other in the eye. They pull up the corners of their mouths to form a short, tense grin, and then they walk away across the wet lawn.

It was intended to be a high point of the protocol: the American Foreign Secretary Colin Powell visiting the Chancellor in Berlin. The US president sends one of the highest-ranking members of his administration to the German capital to signal to the world that the icy relationship between the United States and Germany is beginning to thaw. That was the plan, and that was how Gerhard Schröder would have liked it to be. Just a few hours earlier, the host had returned from a strenuous trip to Asia so that he could receive his much-anticipated guest. But he had made his plans without taking the big brother in the White House sufficiently into account.

He is more interested in other productions. It's early in the afternoon on a Thursday in Washington. The conversation in the office of Vice-president Dick Cheney is pleasant and friendly. There is nothing to drink. The men talk about the German state of Hessen and about global politics. Roland Koch, provincial leader from Wiesbaden and potential CDU candidate for the office of chancellor in 2006, sits in his chair, on his best behavior.

After 37 minutes - the German has already stayed 7 minutes longer than scheduled - the host's telephone rings. Cheney answers the phone, listens, and smiles. Koch assumes that a secretary has called to remind Cheney of his next appointment, and he stands up to present his host with a gift: a figurine of a grape-picker made of Höchst porcelain. "Stay a few minutes," says Cheney.

A photographer comes into the room, and is immediately followed by the world's most powerful man. "How are things in Germany," asks a smiling George W. Bush. And then he says, "I understand you won your election."

Since all chairs are taken, the consternated Koch offers the US president his own chair. He says that he can sit with his government spokesman, Dirk Metz, and Wolfgang Ischinger, the German ambassador, on the sofa. The two men make room, but Bush waves the offer aside and has another chair brought into the room.

Now that the group is more relaxed, the men discuss the difficult relationship between the administrations in Berlin and Washington. America's commander-in-chief leaves no doubt as to his opinion on the current situation. "He is a member of the club of free expression," says one of the German guests later on, and that Schröder will "get an earful when they meet."

Koch tries to solicit understanding for the fears of his people, and talks about his father, who lived through the war and, consequently, is against any military deployment of the German armed forces - and his conversation partner nods his head. They get along well, the US president and the leader of the German state of Hessen, who would very much like to become chancellor.

Only after 17 minutes does Bush turn to leave the room. The men shake hands and exchange pleasantries. When Koch apologizes for the fact that he has brought along "only one gift," the American says, in high spirits: "Give it to Dick."

And so ends a tête-à-tête that Schröder's deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg later tries to downplay, rather too demonstratively. "Well," he says, "that's just the way things are in such government buildings: You walk down a hallway and you walk into a room. And you run into people. We have absolutely no objection to the fact that a German politician happened to be visiting Washington, and that a brief encounter and a brief conversation happened to come about."

Steg is well aware of the fact that the coolly calculated coup is making life rather difficult for at least two people: CDU chairwoman Angela Merkel, since her persistent rival from Wiesbaden has once again stolen her show, and Steg's own boss, Gerhard Schröder. He is sufficiently familiar with political productions to know that such a meeting at the White House has a lot to do with everything - everything but coincidence.

One of his ministers quite earnestly fears that "they want regime change in Berlin."

The US president's staff had carefully prepared this diplomatic affront to the Chancellor. And Koch had no idea that he would assume the pivotal role in this small piece of political theater.

Just a few days before his departure, it had only been suggested to him that he might be able to obtain an appointment at the White House with Steve Hadley, the representative of Bush' National Security Advisor, Condoleeza Rice.

But then he was sitting in the vice-president's office, a place where Bush could easily appear, seemingly by coincidence. If the German had been officially received in the Oval Office, this would been taken as a serious violation of diplomatic protocol in Berlin. But was it that, after all? The rules were observed, at least formally. There is hardly anything more important than "protocol," the grammar of international diplomacy, which regulates in detail the forms of interaction among states. For example, 15 motorcycles are required to escort a head of state during a state visit, but only seven during an "official visit." A head of a government can expect five motorcycles and a foreign minister three.

In the Foreign Office in Berlin, an entire department is dedicated to the business of international conferences, trips, and visits. Men such as Chief of Protocol Busso von Alvensleben or his speaker and Council to a Legation, First Class, Borusso von Blücher, ensure that visits such as that of the American secretary of state take place without mishaps and, most of all, without anyone being offended. Unless, of course, it is intentional. And the protocol allows just as much room for goodwill or disfavor as it does for gratitude, esteem, or retaliation. Will the host receive his guest on the steps or at his desk, as he flips through files? Will the politically more prominent head of a government grant the visiting foreign minister a joint appearance after their meeting, or even a joint press conference? Or will he have him leave his office through a rear door?

Thus, for example, the protocol permitted German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer to serve his American counterpart "Flensburger Pilsener" directly from the bottle on Friday, because Colin Powell has such fond memories of that particular bottle from his military days in Germany. And it enabled a man such as Powell to openly dismiss people whom he clearly does not like, such as Gerhard Schröder. Even the meeting between the two delegations in the small cabinet room at the chancellery was somewhat on the frosty side. In one point, said the guest from America in sibylline tones, he had to show his respect for the head of the German government: At least his position on the Iraq war had remained constant throughout the months. Schröder and his staff were at a loss as to how to interpret Powell's words: as recognition, as fine irony, or as open rebuke. They quickly tried to bring the unpleasant topic to a close.

The discussion of the serious crisis in relations between the two countries lasted all of ten minutes. Then the topic of discussion was quickly shifted to the future. Apparently, however, there was little to discuss. After little more than half an hour, the meeting was over. Precisely as scheduled, but by no means long enough to be able to deliver the signal, according to protocol, of a particularly warm and heartfelt visit.

Colin Powell arrived a few minutes early for his next meeting, this time with CDU chairwoman Angela Merkel. According to protocol, this would normally be a faux pas, which is almost always avoided by a driver deliberately choosing detours. Of course, in the case of the US Secretary of State, this would have meant having to block off additional sections of the capital.

But for the opposition leader, this minor infringement was a true stroke of luck. After all, it allowed her to spend 34 minutes with her guest, just a few minutes less than the amount of time Powell had spent with the Chancellor. The minor protocol war between Berlin and Washington suggests that Schröder's reconciliation with the American president will be a long time coming.

In an interview recorded last Friday, ARD talk show host Sabine Christiansen asked Powell whether there would be an encounter between Bush and Schröder at the summit meeting scheduled for early June in the French town of Evian. "Yes," responded the American secretary of state succinctly, "they will certainly be in the same room."

translated by Chris Sultan

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