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10/05/2009

It was an impressive scene. Just over a year ago, in front of Berlin's iconic Victory Column, some 200,000 people enthusiastically welcomed the American applicant for the position of most powerful person on earth: Barack Obama. At the time, Germany and Europe were swept up in a desire for change, one that would become a reality in the US only a few short months later.

At the same day that Obama spoke in Berlin, his foreign policy advisers published a paper that was advertised as a blueprint for his first year in office. And in the first few months of his presidency, Obama has stuck closely to the intellectual groundwork laid by his advisors then. Additionally the protagonists involved in that group, the so-called Phoenix Initiative, have since taken up senior positions in Obama's administration -- most prominently Susan Rice, who was the head of the group and who is now the US ambassador to the United Nations, and strategist Anne-Marie Slaughter, who is now director for policy planning for the US State Department.

Germany Should Have Taken Advantage Of American Flexibility

The group has driven a thorough review of policy that began even before Obama took office. This re-examination has gone from loose contemplation of foreign policy to systematic analysis and, where appropriate, to the revision or adaptation of existing policies. A new strategic concept is the result. Just as the televised debate between the presidential candidates is a traditional part of the American presidential campaign, so is this.

The process continues once the new president takes office and begins setting a new political course. It is a phase with enormous conceptual flexibility during which allies and friends are welcome to make suggestions or offer new ideas -- before any positions are set in stone. Later it becomes harder to make significant changes. But from very early on in the process, President Obama's team has approached American allies in an effort to integrate the their positions within new US strategy.

The era when Germany was very important in terms of America's foreign policy -- because the Iron Curtain ran straight through the middle of the country -- is over. Today Berlin is important to Washington when it becomes part of the solution (to some international problem). As a result, the German government, which did not contribute to the recent American policy review with its own ideas and suggestions, has missed out on a golden opportunity to influence the new American geo-strategy.

International Connections Guarantee Freedom, Security, Prosperity

President Obama has never left anyone in any doubt that his first duty is to his fellow Americans. It is the same for every German government, entrusted as they are with the well being of the German people. Just as clear though, is the fact that Germany, Europe and the US have more in common with one another than with any other country. Our international connections guarantee our freedom and our security, as well as our prosperity.

In this multi-polar world, the US itself has come to the painful realization that it is not enough simply to be the last superpower left standing; one cannot simply impose one's values on others or further one's interests without recrimination. On many levels we Germans are aware of this too.

We know that we need to come to a consensus with those who stand next to us -- in Europe, in the US and in every other enlightened and constitutional democracy on this planet. As such, it is vital for the West to reinvent itself in order to enforce common interests on a global level. In a time when the future of global governance lies within formats like the G-8, the G-8 plus 5, the G-20 or within a reformed United Nations, the West needs to seek more consensus if it wants to further its interests and safeguard its values. This is why Germany needs more engagement in foreign policy, rather than less. Our interests demand an active multi-lateralism -- we cannot just take on the role of commentator.

Global Problems Solved Only If West Works Together

The new US government no longer has a worldview based upon the old (nor on any new) Cold War. Instead it is ready to take on the challenges of globalization. With this comes the recognition that we can only solve global problems if the West works together and remains open to dialogue with nations that do not necessarily share all of our values.

Of the many new beginnings that Obama has pursued over the last few months there are a number that sit well with our own interests and values. One of these is the attempt to rebuild trust with Russia and thereby encourage Russia -- as well as China -- to take on more international responsibility.

Germany has profited like no other country from international détente, the kernel of which was disarmament. President Obama deserves our resolute support for his attempts to reduce both nuclear and conventional weapons. And we clearly also share a desire to defuse conflict in the Middle East. For decades these conflicts have been used as a political justification of extremists' actions and poisoned the relationship between different cultures.

Germany Has Important Foreign Affairs Questions To Answer

So will Germany place itself at the top of the list of nations that don't just talk about disarmament but that also do something about it? Do we want to leave whole regions -- such as Latin America and Africa -- to other global players who may not share our interests or values? What will be the consequences of two German initiatives for peace in the Middle East gone awry in the last four years? Does Germany have a clear policy for the future of the United Nations that goes beyond the current issue of a prestigious seat on the United Nations Security Council? And with our penchant to debate foreign policy, are we prepared to negotiate with those whose value systems don't necessarily match ours -- that may even contradict our values -- when it comes to questions of global importance?

There are those in Washington who have already said that because of Germany's unwillingness to answer these questions or to come up with new approaches, that we have become, more or less, irrelevant. Germany and Europe no longer exist in the geo-strategic climate that held sway during the Cold War where the region had immediate and obvious relevance for the USA. Today Germany and Europe must work for that relevance, through both conceptual and operative contributions.

It is important to bring back what the outgoing government has let slip: namely a close solidarity with our trans-Atlantic partners when it comes to "thinking globally" and when possible, when it comes to helping shape those global thoughts. The change of government in the US offers Germany a unique chance. Whether we use that chance will depend upon political leadership.

Prof. Dr. Margerita Mathiopoulos is honorary professor for US foreign policy at the University of Potsdam and chairwoman of the Trans-Atlantic Forum of the FDP. Dr. Werner Hoyer is deputy floor leader for the FDP and is the party's foreign policy spokesman.