It’s not every day a world leader comes to your college campus. As a Harvard student and supporter of strong U.S.-European relations, I was excited to hear this year’s commencement address from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. With President Trump’s persistent undermining of the trans-Atlantic alliance, and European cohesion facing threats from both Chinese aggression and rising nationalism, Merkel’s speech presented an extraordinary opportunity. She could have challenged Trump and offered a bold vision to revitalize the Western alliance.
Her speech, however, missed the mark.
Although Merkel has been called the “de facto leader of Europe,” she did little leading on Harvard’s graduation stage. Instead, she did what many Harvard freshman do to build social capital and virtue signal to their peers: bash Trump. Merkel never mentioned Trump by name, but her exhortation against building walls, isolationism, and telling “lies as truth and truth as lies” was aimed squarely at the president. Although previous Harvard commencement speakers have offered constructive visions and solutions to trans-Atlantic issues, Merkel’s speech came off as destructive and negative.
This was a disappointment. At Harvard, speeches from leaders about trans-Atlantic affairs are venerated traditions.
The best of these speeches occurred in 1947. Then-Secretary of State George Marshall described the postwar destruction of Europe, and promised that the U.S. would help rehabilitate the continent. If we did not, he warned, there would be “no political stability and no assured peace.” Since many European countries at the time lacked raw materials, fuel, machinery, and steady food production, Marshall recognized that their fledgling democracies faced an uncertain future. Marshall promised that the U.S. would invest in Europe by sending it supplies, and subsidizing its industry and transportation.
Essentially, in a speech at Harvard, the famous Marshall Plan was born.
In the decades since, graduating Harvard students and attending faculty have listened to speeches offering bold visions and innovative programs for strengthening the trans-Atlantic alliance. Perhaps offering a more relevant contrast to Merkel, several German chancellors have delivered commencement addresses during the Cold War. They, too, offered a vision and a plan.
In 1979, Helmut Schmidt endorsed disarmament deals while dismissing any talk of a friendlier relationship between West Germany and the Soviet Union. Lastly, in 1990, Helmut Kohl envisioned a “federal United States of Europe” and promised that Western European nations could bear the costs of overcoming the “economic and ecological” devastation in former communist countries, but would welcome American help.
In each instance, these German leaders offered their own trans-Atlantic vision and explained how to act on it. Yet Merkel defended the status quo while offering little that was new or noteworthy.
The chancellor criticized “protectionism and trade conflicts” but didn’t explain how to achieve a better free trade solution. She told students to break down walls, yet never specified which ones, or addressed the concerns of those seeking the walls in the first place.
Beyond vague, her ideas were also trite. Merkel said the U.S. needed to work with Europe to fight terrorism, which isn’t exactly a bold new stance. Similarly, Merkel reiterated the threat of climate change but offered no way for Harvard students to stop it — while former Vice President Al Gore had outlined a plan the day before.
The only substantial political initiative Merkel announced was that Germany would reach climate neutrality by 2050. That’s great — for the handful of German students who attend Harvard. But like the rest of her speech, it offers little international insight.
For my own commencement next year, I hope that Harvard’s administration selects a speaker with a new vision and, more importantly, a way to make it a reality.
Nick Danby is a rising senior at Harvard University.
