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  What the President-Elect Wants from Germany: Obama Win Sparks Hopes and Fears

What the President-Elect Wants from Germany Obama Win Sparks Hopes and Fears

By SPIEGEL Staff

Part 2: Opportunities in Middle East

Steinmeier's experts also sense opportunities in the Middle East. According to the foreign ministry, US diplomacy will quickly make overtures to Syria, a development that Steinmeier would find extremely gratifying.

For quite some time now, the mantra at the foreign ministry has been that if Damascus negotiated with Israel concerning the occupied Golan Heights, the West could kill two birds with one stone: It would create a prospect for peace for Israel and, at the same time, rob Iran of its last ally in the region. Such an initiative could perhaps persuade the government in Tehran to take a slightly more conciliatory approach.

However, if he wants to be an international savior, Obama also has to address the issue of global warming. German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel would actually rather see Obama begin his term of office right away instead of waiting until January. "We need a G-8 meeting in 2009 on climate protection, and perhaps even a special UN summit to hammer out an agreement," says Gabriel, "and with Obama as a leader this has at least become conceivable."

So far the UN has failed to reach a global agreement on climate protection because of US refusals to consent to a CO2 reduction plan as long as China and India have not come on board. However, both countries, each with populations of over a billion, have demanded that the US must first set a good example.

This stalemate could now be resolved. During the election campaign, Obama said he would participate in the Kyoto process and introduce a strict nationwide emissions trading scheme.

Merkel Falling Behind in Climate Protection

While the new man in Washington is calling for America to lead the way in climate protection, heads of state and governments in the EU still remain at odds over limits for CO2 emissions. Merkel, who was once called "the climate chancellor" is now pushing for large segments of German industry to be exempted from emissions trading. Obama has no plans for such exceptions in his US emissions trading concept. While Merkel is buying German carmakers more time to meet CO2 standards, Obama wants to push for legislation that would put a million electric cars on American highways by the year 2015.

This threatens to tarnish Merkel's image. Instead of playing the role of the leading climate protector, she now looks more like a foot-dragger. Environmental Minister Gabriel is delighted with the extra pressure: "Now the EU, and German industry in particular, has to be careful not to fall way behind the Americans on climate protection and green technologies."

Chemistry will also help determine the ultimate nature of relations with the new administration. When Obama came to Berlin in July, Merkel offered him a rather frosty reception by preventing him from giving his speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate. However, their talks afterwards reportedly went well.

By contrast, Foreign Minister Steinmeier played the perfect host. He met Obama at his limousine in the courtyard of the foreign ministry and accompanied him up the steps to his office. He reassured the Democratic candidate that he shouldn't take the domestic political squabbling over the Brandenburg Gate too seriously. Obama laughed.

This is also the beginning of a new era for the foreign minister. He has never really been able to establish the right relationship with America because the Bush administration eyed him with suspicion, as a friend and former associate of former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, and as a politician who seeks dialogue with Russia. These hurdles have now been eliminated.

On the day after Obama's election, when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened to deploy short-range missiles near the Polish border, Steinmeier was among the sharpest critics, calling it "the wrong signal at the wrong time."

He sees a role for Germany and himself as a mediator between the two old superpowers. Soon he plans to make a grand gesture toward Washington. After Obama is sworn into office, Steinmeier will travel to Iraq and, to a certain extent, put a symbolic end to the worst German-American political rift of the post-war era. The foreign ministry is currently working on proposals for development projects that Steinmeier could offer Iraq. A close aide to the minister says that the idea is also "to send a signal to Obama" that Germany supports his Middle East policies.

RALF BESTE, DIRK KURBJUWEIT, CHRISTIAN SCHWÄGERL, ALEXANDER SZANDAR

Translated from the German by Paul Cohen.

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