Pew Research recently published an article describing the dramatic decline in the relationship between the United States and Germany. Nearly three-quarters of German adults say relations with the United States are bad. Sadly, I think that the population of much of our historical allies share this ambivalence about America. Moreover, restoring our credibility will take at best, decades – Humpy Dumpty has indeed fallen. I believe it will take a succession of U.S. presidents to restore faith in America, not only by Germans, but the populations of countries that have been our allies since World War II. I think the damage is irreparable.
Over and over again, America has voted in the UN totally at variance with our historical allies. I am deeply concerned that if we have another crisis, such as the North Korea invasion of South Korea, or, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, we will not get the same level of support received since the United Nations was established in 1945.
Why should countries support us given the following:
- Trump’s embrace of dictators as “good, strong men.”
- Our flip flop on major policy issues without consulting our allies.
- Trump’s insults of many leaders.
While Americans continue to say relations with Germany are good, German views have flipped since last year. The following charts provide some insightful information:
