Believe it or not, Germany is getting tough at the Hindu Kush. The German armed forces are undergoing its biggest operation yet in Afghanistan. The Bundeswehr is supporting the Afghan Army with around 300 members of the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) in operation “Eagle” against insurgents near Kundus. For the first time, infantry fighting vehicles with heavy firepower have been deployed. German Army Inspector General Wolfgang Schneiderhan stated in a press conferences that “now is...

Mel Brooks’ musical “The Producers” will be performed in Berlin in May, writes Der Spiegel (in English). It’s not that much of a controversy. Just the usual “Should one be allowed to laugh about Hitler?” newspaper articles. A bit more shocking is the comment by the heads of the Federation of German Trade Unions Michael Sommer, who suggested that Nazis might rise outside the cinemas as well. DW World: In an interview with Germany’s ARD television, Sommer...

When Marla Ruzicka got killed in Bagdad on April 16, 2005, many US newspapers had long and impressive obituaries about the founder of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC), who convinced Congress to create an Iraqi War Victims Fund. Rolling Stone Magazine described her as a “youthful representative of a certain kind of not-yet-lost American idealism” in a good, balanced and heart-wrenching biographic article. The Boston Globe wrote: Virtually alone, she directed attention...

“NATO offers the United States the useful stamp of multilateral legitimacy without really imposing too many limits on America’s foreign  policy,” says Dutch political scientist Peter van Ham. In consequence, recent NATO missions have been “devoid of the unity and coherence that the old NATO had” and US, German and Dutch units pursue different strategies in Afghanistan, adds Paul Hockenos, who quotes van Ham in A new Transatlantic Partnership: Rethinking US-Europe Relations. Hockenos...

Numerous US politicians, pundits and bloggers complain that Europe (especially Germany) is once again free riding on the United States. This time we are accused of refusing to carry our share of the global economic burden by failing to increase the stimulus to a gazillion euro. We are supposed to throw in the kitchen sink as the Fed did and follow yet another one of Washington’s “shock and awe” strategies since the one in Iraq was so successful. Europe responds with yet another...

First Al Gore invented the internet. Then President Barack Obama invented hope and change. And now he proudly claimed in his address to the joint session of Congress: I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it. None of this will come without cost, nor will it be easy. But this is America. We don’t do what’s easy. Apparently Americans invented everything, including history. And it’s only other nations that walk away, give up, quit and cry like...

German and American policy pundits and exchange students look forward to a new phase in transatlantic relations, but also recognize the limits of further US-European cooperation. That’s my conclusion from speaking to dozens of America enthusiasts at Telekom representation in Berlin, where one of the many election night parties took place. Here’s my interview with Dr. John C. Hulsman and Dr. Henning Riecke of the German Council of Foreign Relations as well as Johannes Thimm, a Ph.D. candidate...

The Economist has a good cover story about John McCain and explains quite well why Americans might elect him as president. It is a good summary for the average reader, who is not a news junkie. Such an analysis is missing in the commentary of a Washington correspondent with the German public broadcaster ARD: Anna Engelke fails to understand McCain’s appeal. Instead she makes a list of problems for McCain (his age, the bad shape of US economy, high debts and deficit, two wars) and concludes...

Wess Mitchell, director of research at The Center for European Policy Analysis, writes that the EU’s largest states are more interested in avoiding a rupture with Moscow than in protecting the vital interests of the Unions eastern members. Therefore, the United States should announce its intention to transfer the entire Europe-based American military establishment to new locations in Central Europe: Atlantic Community: “How America Should Respond to Resurgent Russia One commenter suggested...

The Georgian government is recalling its 2,000 troops serving in Iraq to confront the threat at home, reports The Times: We helped in Iraq – now help us, beg Georgians As Russia forces its neighbour to retreat from South Ossetia, the people of Gori tell our correspondent of betrayal by the West. (…) Miriyan Gogolashvili, of Tkviav, said: “The Russians will be here tomorrow. They want to show us and the world how powerful they are. Tomorrow it will be Ukraine and nobody in the West...

The majority of Germans support Barrack Obama for the US presidency, not because they believe he will radically change US policy, but because he is expected to return it to the familiar pre-Bush trajectory. This is the conclusion from my colleague Ben Heine over at Atlantic Community. Ben and I have interviewed the attendees of the Obama rally in Berlin yesterday. Here’s our video: What do you think of the opinions expressed by the interviewees?

Berlin is abuzz about Senator Obama’s upcoming speech on Thursday 7:00 PM local time. How many folks will come to see the messiah as he has been called by some journalists over here? Many press outlets quoted a city government official’s estimate of 10,000 to one million people. Wow, that is so precise! It seems that nobody else dares to publish an estimate. It could be a comparatively small gathering. Or it could be a huge gathering like when President Kennedy said “Ich bin ein...

Finally, Serbia is back in Europe. Stephen Castle and Steven Erlanger write in the NY Times: Europe on Tuesday welcomed the arrest of Radovan Karadzic not just as a victory for international justice, but as a vindication of the Continent’s favored political doctrine: soft power. (…) In the last few months the European Union has helped bring a pro-Western political party to victory in Serbia’s elections while ensuring that it has powerful incentives to hand over war crimes suspects....

Benjamin Perry writes in Anglofritz: Berlin-based Scottish expat, culturist and opinionator Nick Currie, better known as the musician Momus, elects Barack Obama today as the next President of Europe. The position just opened up, Momus says, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this month withdrew his essential support of Tony Blair for the job. He also quotes Roger Cohen in the New York Times, who describes Obama as an online phenomenon, jumping national borders and “stirring as...

My sister Daphne studied Burmese music in Yangon. She is in touch with teachers and students at the music school Gitameit. They are organizing relief aid. Daphne wrote this: Small and local aid agencies are best equipped to help the victims of cyclone Nargis because they are already operating on the ground. Donations to these agencies are more effective since big aid organizations are still struggling to access the affected areas. Local relief groups such as the Music School Gitameit, are providing...

When Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president one year ago today, the US media was full of praise for him and expected a big improvement in transatlantic relations. Sarkozy’s pro-American rhetoric was very much appreciated, because it was a big contrast to Gerhard Schroeder’s US critical election campaigns. With Schroeder replaced by Angela Merkel and Chirac now replaced by Sarkozy, many Americans were looking forward to a new era in transatlantic relations led by a younger generation of...

Javier Solana, the EU’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, said according to AFP that he backed the new Pakistani government’s moves to hold talks with Taliban militants, but ruled out any negotiations with Al-Qaeda. This puts Europe at odds with the United States! Not just with the Bush administration, but also with all remaining presidential candidates. Even Barack Obama, who is willing to meet with Iran’s President Ahmadinejad, seems to be against...

This is my favorite quote of the year so far: “Would we have allowed Nazi Germany to host the Olympics?” This awesome statement was found on a protest sign in San Francisco. German Joys and Andrew Sullivan have a picture. This statement is fascinating on so many levels. Not just because the author has not heard about the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. And not just because of his/her comparison between Nazi Germany and China. I find the statement revealing because the author apparently thinks...

Polish perspectives are under-reported in the US mass media, but they are important because Poland is one of Europe’s bigger countries, is considered very Pro-American and was seen as the primary “New Europe” country, a term that is less frequently used these days, but is still controversial. Over at the Atlantic Community, an online platform for transatlantic dialog, we have published quite a few interesting articles on US-Polish issues. Marek Swierczynski, a journalist at the...

The Boston Globe: World War I veterans still have no national memorial. There has been no Hollywood blockbuster in recent years to bring their story to life. But they still have Frank Buckles. More than 90 years after he fudged his age to join the Army, Corporal Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I, came to the Pentagon yesterday to represent the more than two million “doughboys” who braved the trench warfare and gas attacks of the “The Great...

We need an International Afghanistan Study Group, modeled after the Iraq Study Group, but with representatives from Europe and Asia as well. To save the NATO mission in Afghanistan, we have to conduct a thorough, frank and honest evaluation of all our political and military strategies in Central Asia. We have to debate fresh and controversial policy alternatives, which include negotiations with the Taliban, the replacement of the Karzai government, military incursions into Pakistan, the involvement...

The NATO mission in Afghanistan has been a big topic this week. While the German media was full of concern about providing 250 Bundeswehr soldiers for a Quick Reaction Force (No, I did not forget another zero.), US and Canadian politicians and think tanks sounded alarm over developments in Afghanistan. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has urged his German counterpart in a one-and-a-half-page-long letter to “send an additional 3,200 troops to Afghanistan,” reports the Associated Press....

Considering the general suspicion and negativity towards Europe among the Republicans, it is great news that John McCain is the frontrunner. For Europe he would be better than any other Republican candidate. The Atlantic Community reviewed the Republican candidates’ statements on Europe and transatlantic affairs and concludes: Huckabee claims Europe is (unintentionally) to blame for some of the US’ biggest terror threats, Romney is using an anti-European stance to further his campaign,...

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee accused the Bush administration of having an “arrogant bunker mentality” on foreign policy. Secretary Rice responded: We have right now probably the strongest trans-Atlantic relations … I would say in a very long time. (…) We’re working with allies in Europe, Russia and China on Iran. The (NATO) alliance is mobilized together in Afghanistan. Phillip Carter over at Intel Dump believes “Condi succumbs to the Kool-Aid:”...

The Word of the Year says quite a bit about public debates. In the last two years, the Society for the German language has chosen the words “Fanmeile” (”fan mile,” referring to the public viewing and celebrating spaces during the Soccer World Cup in Germany in 2006) and “Bundeskanzlerin” (the female version of the word “chancellor”) as word of the year. And now “Klimakatastrophe” (climate catastrophe) was selected as the Word of the Year...