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GMF celebrates its 40 year history and Founder and Chairman, Dr. Guido Goldman at Gala Dinner May 09, 2013 / Washington, DCGMF held a celebratory gala dinner at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, Wednesday May 8.
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Anchor Elaine Reyes speaks with Andrew Small, Transatlantic Fellow of the Asia Program for the German Marshall Fund, about Beijing's potential role in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine
Russia warms to the West no more
August 26, 2008 / Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff
Süddeutsche Zeitung
German policy vis a vis Russia needs to be rethought. There is no longer a basis for Germany's "Strategic Partnership" with Russia. The occupation of parts of Georgia is a game changer. In 1996, Chancellor Helmut Kohl offered the Russians a deal: Nato would allow the Central and Eastern European countries to join while Russia would be offered to gradually integrate into Western and global institutions. Germany would anker this common western policy. The argument was: Integration would make Russia safer and richer. The strategy has worked: Russia is safe and rich. Yet it is choosing a different path: it wants to be rich, authoritarian and a bully vis a vis its neighbors.
The idea of a "strategic partnership" was based on the assumption that Russia would, over time, become a democratic nation that does not threaten its neighbors. For too long German policy makers have engaged in wishful thinking about the nature of the new Russia. Whenever a newspaper was shut down in Moscow, German officials deplored Russia's "detours" on the way to democracy. But how many times can you take a wrong turn and still assume that you will reach your final destination? The time of self-deceipt is now over. There is now way to avoid a simple conclusion: Russia's "souvereign democracy" respects neither the sovereignty of its citizens nor of its neighbors. The erection of a "new sphere of influence" is simply unacceptable.
German policy makers are afraid to say or do anything that Russia does not like. Why? A more realistic Russia policy does not mean a return to the Cold War. Russia is just too important to shut down all lines of communication. Russia is indispensible if there is to be any progress on Iran, the Middle East, Nuclear Disarmament and any number of issues in which the UN Security Council has a role. Europe needs Russia for its energy security. At the same time Russia needs to understand that it will pay a price for blatent aggression. There can be no further integration into the western clubs if Russia does not play by the rules of the game. Why, for example, grant Russia membership of WTO at this time?
Steps against Russia need to be reversible. The West should not want to punish Russia, but change its strategic calculus and, in the end, its behavior. With the new Russia, Germany will need to have a relationship a la carte rather than a strategic partnership.
For the complete German version, click on the link below:
