Next month, German voters will go to the polls to elect the government that will lead one of America’s most important allies for the duration of President Trump’s current term in office. Conspicuously absent from that unfolding political drama, however, is one crucial observer: a U.S. ambassador.
America’s envoy to Germany is just one of dozens of high-level diplomatic posts the president has yet to fill. And this particular appointment warrants swift nomination given the precarious place in which America finds its relationship with Germany.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s recent intimation that the United States may no longer be completely reliable is bad news for American interests abroad. Indeed, the chancellor undoubtedly spoke for many world leaders when she questioned President Trump’s willingness to honor America’s decades-old commitments. That’s deeply unsettling for a turbulent world in desperate need of principled leadership from the United States.
President Trump’s nascent administration has upended much of the dogma that has guided U.S. foreign policy for generations. His bellicose words and unpredictable—if not quixotic—persona mirror few American presidents, and he has broken with established policy in several key areas. Indeed, the president has not only pulled out of major free-trade negotiations, he has also suggested that the United States may repudiate its NATO obligations. It’s no surprise, then, that foreign policy achievements have been elusive in the months since President Trump took office. Nevertheless, the president has an opportunity to secure a much-needed foreign policy win by nominating a strong and trustworthy candidate for ambassador to Germany.
Germany is America’s most important partner on the European continent. The U.S.-German relationship anchors transatlantic cooperation on everything from energy independence to defense. Germany is therefore an indispensable ally against further Russian assaults on the territorial sovereignty of its neighbors, not to mention democratic institutions worldwide.
U.S.-German relations have been fragile, notwithstanding significant shared interests, since at least 2013, when WikiLeaks revealed U.S. spying on German officials, including Chancellor Merkel. Germans are particularly incensed by government surveillance given their history. Memories of domestic espionage and political oppression under Communist rule in the former East Germany remain fresh in the minds of many Germans. Chancellor Merkel, who spent her formative years in East Germany, understands that tragic history better than most. Hence, a strong ambassadorial nominee is vitally important if the president is to rebuild trust between the United States and Germany.
Whomever President Trump nominates as his envoy to Berlin must, therefore, possess at least three key qualities: First, the as-yet-to-be-named ambassador must be an honest broker who is able to earn the trust of Germany’s leaders and the German public alike. Second, the nominee must be a reliable and authoritative conduit of information between the White House and the German government.
And, most importantly, President Trump’s nominee must be someone who can effectively dissuade the president from making strategic blunders in transatlantic affairs. Here, Trump’s penchant for promoting obsequious yes-men to positions of authority will not serve him well. Germans will have little patience for platitudes as a substitute for substantive diplomatic dialogue. Anyone unable to command the president’s attention and persuasively affect his decisions when transatlantic affairs are at stake should be deemed unqualified. Congress will play a crucial role in making that determination, as the Constitution requires the Senate to vet the president’s pick to be ambassador to Germany.
No ambassador can fully rebuild a strained bilateral relationship, but a wise pick can make necessary progress. Nowhere is that more important than America’s relationship with Germany. The Trump administration has struggled to achieve early foreign policy wins, and escalating tensions with North Korea don’t augur well for the foreseeable future. But the president can do much to repair transatlantic relations by heeding the better angels of his nature when choosing an ambassador to Germany. For the sake of Western values, let’s hope he does.
Scott A. Olson is a former congressional staffer and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law. He is a Political Partner of the Truman National Security Project. Follow him on Twitter, @SOlsonOR.
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