German enthusiasm for the new US administration could soon fade. The Americans made it very clear at the Munich Security Conference that they expect solidarity from their European allies -- and that means blood, sweat and tears. This year, it's going to be hard to escape the slew of German anniversaries. The list includes the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest 2,000 years ago, the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II 70 years ago, the founding of East and West Germany 60 years ago and the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. In 2009, hardly any other country in the world will spend so much time intensively examining its own past as Germany. German troops in Afghanistan: Berlin is learning that Obama expects more from America's allies. At the Munich Security Conference, which ran from Friday to Sunday, politicians from all over the world dared to take a look into the future. As difficult as forcasts might be in this time of terrorist threats, global financial meltdown and innumerable intractable regional conflicts, one prediction can be safely made: The phase of German military intervention that began 10 years ago during the Kosovo war is in no way coming to an end, despite the fact the majority of Germans wish it would. On the contrary: The era of foreign deployments for Germans and their military forces has just begun.
German enthusiasm for the new US administration could soon fade. The Americans made it very clear at the Munich Security Conference that they expect solidarity from their European allies -- and that means blood, sweat and tears.
This year, it's going to be hard to escape the slew of German anniversaries. The list includes the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest 2,000 years ago, the invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II 70 years ago, the founding of East and West Germany 60 years ago and the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago. In 2009, hardly any other country in the world will spend so much time intensively examining its own past as Germany.
German troops in Afghanistan: Berlin is learning that Obama expects more from America's allies. At the Munich Security Conference, which ran from Friday to Sunday, politicians from all over the world dared to take a look into the future. As difficult as forcasts might be in this time of terrorist threats, global financial meltdown and innumerable intractable regional conflicts, one prediction can be safely made: The phase of German military intervention that began 10 years ago during the Kosovo war is in no way coming to an end, despite the fact the majority of Germans wish it would. On the contrary: The era of foreign deployments for Germans and their military forces has just begun.
