President Biden tells us that Germany is one of America’s most important allies. He says his predecessor weakened U.S. interests by forcefully criticizing Chancellor Angela Merkel on important policy issues. The United States, he insists, will now stand alongside Germany in common cause.
Biden quickly suspended former President Donald Trump’s order to relocate some of the tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel in Germany to other European nations. Biden has also pledged his administration to a new era of cooperation with Berlin. But recent events raise questions about whether our cause is really a common one.
Consider the facts.
Ignoring a requested delay from Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Merkel rushed through a European Union trade deal with China shortly before Biden took office. Merkel continues to prioritize Chinese investment over U.S. and Western security concerns.
Germany spends 1.3% to 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense, far less than the basic 2%-of-GDP NATO target that all member states agreed to move toward back in 2014. In 2017, Berlin’s then-ambassador to the U.S. told the Washington Examiner that Germany was committed to getting at least close to the 2% target by 2024. That timeline has now been abandoned.
Germany refuses to relinquish its support for Russia’s Nord Stream II energy pipeline, the completion of which would allow Vladimir Putin to leverage Europe’s energy access at the price of the EU’s political deference. The pipeline would also fundamentally undermine Ukraine’s energy export market, weakening that fragile pro-Western democracy as it faces Russian destabilization. Oh, and on that note, Merkel has also been instrumental in recent years in pressuring Ukraine to accept Russian-favorable cease-fire agreements.
Germany openly hosts three elements of Russia’s illegal chemical weapons program — yes, three Russian GRU intelligence service chemical weapons facilities operate on German soil. This is the same chemical weapons program used in recent years to kill an innocent woman on British soil. Most recently, the program was applied to the attempted murder of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Allies are supposed to be partners who share common interests and act in common cause. The above facts do not evince a common cause between Germany and the U.S. They evince the opposite. Yet, Biden continues to enable Germany’s bad behavior both with words and deeds.
For example, Biden refuses to enforce congressionally mandated sanctions against those involved in Nord Stream II’s construction and licensing. When asked about this, the White House and State Department sidestep the issue. Nor have we seen anything but the most polite of statements from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in pressuring NATO allies to continue investing more in defense.
But if Germany is showered with praise and gratitude for undermining U.S. interests, Merkel will have little reason not to keep up the racket. This is totally at odds with the Biden administration’s stated strategy.
Unveiling a preliminary guidance document this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that China represents America’s “biggest geopolitical test” of the century. China, he added, “is the only competitor potentially capable of combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to mount a sustained challenge to a stable and open international system.”
Blinken is correct. So, we are confused as to how his well-stated concern is compatible with Merkel’s approach to China.
The only bone Germany has thrown to Biden came under significant U.S. pressure. Germany finally agreed to deploy a naval warship to challenge Beijing’s outrageous territorial claims in the South China Sea. Even then, Berlin has been keen to let Beijing know that its warship won’t travel within 12 miles of China’s claimed islands. This is the definition of appeasement.
Germany’s behavior stands in contrast to America’s two other major allies in Europe, Britain and France. The French have recently and repeatedly deployed attack submarines to the South China Sea to conduct war exercises alongside the U.S. Navy. The British will send their new aircraft carrier to the South China Sea for its inaugural deployment and embark with a U.S. Marine Corps fighter squadron.
So, why is Biden so deferential toward an ally that undermines America’s core interests?
