A poll published by research firm infratest dimap last week indicates German trust in the U.S. has plummeted to lows not seen since the thick of the Iraq war. Another poll, published in May, showed those Germans surveyed were more interested in deepening their country’s ties with China than they were in doing so with the U.S. A third, published in April, showed that nearly half wanted Germany to take a “middle position” in the Ukraine conflict rather than standing firmly on the side of the West.
True. I think a big mistake we make is assuming – like I pretty much always have even though I live here and should know better – that Germany is in fact part of the West. It isn’t. Germany doesn’t have an identity.
I was in Italy last summer. The Italians know that Germany has the largest economy in Western/Eastern Europe. However, the Italians do not like the “Besserwisser” attitude that goes with it. Friends of mine that are Greek expats traveled back to Greece for vacation and noted the same.
Jein (about being so firmly in the West). How’s the saying go? Germany is too big for Europe and too small for the world? I meant more German cultural identity (another word for cultural memory?). Sure they are anchored in the West but take a closer look and you will see that they are still divided and always will be. Look at the recent Putin-Versteher wave and you’ll see what I mean. Germans will always have more understanding for Moscow than they will for Washington (Brussels?). That’s just the way it is here.
Observing Hermann 
Well, they don’t have any other partners, at least none that will take a bullet to protect them.
Otherwise the wimmen-folk should probably learn a little Russian and accept what their grandmothers did in the zone of Soviet occupation.
Tangled logic here. Germany is part of the West, and the West has taken a middle position on the Ukraine conflict.
True. I think a big mistake we make is assuming – like I pretty much always have even though I live here and should know better – that Germany is in fact part of the West. It isn’t. Germany doesn’t have an identity.
They are the most powerful member of the E.U. It doesn’t get more West than that!
I was in Italy last summer. The Italians know that Germany has the largest economy in Western/Eastern Europe. However, the Italians do not like the “Besserwisser” attitude that goes with it. Friends of mine that are Greek expats traveled back to Greece for vacation and noted the same.
Jein (about being so firmly in the West). How’s the saying go? Germany is too big for Europe and too small for the world? I meant more German cultural identity (another word for cultural memory?). Sure they are anchored in the West but take a closer look and you will see that they are still divided and always will be. Look at the recent Putin-Versteher wave and you’ll see what I mean. Germans will always have more understanding for Moscow than they will for Washington (Brussels?). That’s just the way it is here.