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I would like to see if there is interest in discussing the historical dimensions of the recent steep slide in German-American diplomatic relations. Several years ago I had the pleasure of reviewing for H-German Dan Diner's "America in the Eyes of the Germans." I began my review with this quotation from his book: "The Americans are really the only nation on earth that I view instinctively with a deep hatred -- like a false, voracious, sanctimonious, shameless beast of prey that deceives with every expression and in reality only snaps around looking for food for its insatiable, dollar lusting belly like an alligator." These were written in 1921 by Karl Haushofer, the "geopolitician" and teacher of Rudolf Hess, but they also reflected a cultural aversion to the United States among educated middle class Germans reaching far back into the nineteenth century. While certain highly visible American exports have long found ready consumers in Germany, if one reads some of the postings in Internet forums at the moment, it's hard to reach the conclusion that America itself is loved. I believe this is more than a temporary revulsion at George W. Bush that will recede in another two or perhaps six years when he is no longer president. It is to me a sign of Germany's continuing self re-assertion, begun tentatively under Helmut Kohl in the 1980s and now being pursued much more boldly by Gerhard Schroeder. In the current crisis, what better way to define oneself as independent than to thumb one's nose with impunity at the world's most powerful nation? France is past master at this, and is today helping Germany learn all the right moves. In light of these recent events, my main question is as follows: in broader historical terms, is the close relationship between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States, which lasted between 1949 and 2002, to be viewed as an aberration, a temporary concealment of deeper and perhaps ineradicable suspicions on the part of both Germans and Americans? Most Americans, if they consider Germany at all, view it through the prism of World War II. As our memories of Cold War alliances fade, the notion of an unreliable Germany of which the United States must be suspicious, may in fact be regaining currency. On the other side, as Diner pointed out in his book, even as Americans view Germany askance because of two world wars, many Germans project onto the United States the mentality and structures that gave rise to Nazism. The controversial comments by SPD justice minister Herta Daubler-Gmelin, in which she compared Bush's election tactics to those of Hitler (using international affairs to distract from domestic woes), are in this sense no accident, but the continuation of a German critique of the United States going back for decades. One wonders if her rehabilitation at some point may be a sign to watch for. I would be curious to hear other historically grounded perspectives on this deterioration in German-American relations. Many thanks, Dan Rogers University of South Alabama
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