Effective diplomacy requires a shared clarity of purpose, a trust that all parties will live up to their pledges, and a willingness to enforce consequences for failure to keep commitments once given.
Actively lobbying the U.S. Senate to avoid new Republican-sponsored sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 energy pipeline, Germany is rejecting all three of those principles at once. Instead, Berlin has endorsed the Team America school of diplomacy.
A 2004 movie satire on the post-9/11 world, Team America offered a scathing indictment of toothless diplomacy. A memorable moment comes when then-North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il meets with then-United Nations arms control negotiator Hans Blix. The setting: a shark aquarium in Kim’s palace. Seeking weapons inspection access, Blix demands, “The U.N. must be firm with you. Let me see your whole palace, or else.”
Kim coldly responds, “Or else, what?”
“Or else,” Blix explains, “we will be very, very angry with you. And we will write you a letter telling you how angry we are.” Blix quickly finds himself an aquarium food source. (If not for all the profanity, I would post the clip.)
Germany apparently views this hilarious representation of a spineless Blix as its model.
Axios has published “classified” German diplomatic documents, presumably provided by the embassy, on how Berlin intends to persuade the Senate to abandon its Nord Stream 2 sanctions amendment. The documents are truly something to behold.
They claim that “Germany has sent strong signals to Moscow when it found Russia breaching international law even at the cost of accepting a strain on German-Russian relations …”
This is a lie.
Responding to Vladimir Putin’s aggressive escalation on and beyond NATO borders, Germany has stripped its defense spending bare. A new government taking office next week will go even further, abandoning NATO’s nuclear deterrence strategy.
Still unconvinced that Germany’s “strong signals” to Moscow aren’t all that strong? Then consider Germany’s response to Russia’s chemical weapons program. Facilitating Russian intelligence service assassinations across Europe, this program poses a proven and significant threat to NATO security. Yet Germany continues to tolerate the operation of this program on its own soil. Yes, you read that right — Germany hosts elements of Russia’s chemical weapons program.
Fear not, however — Berlin promises action to address the Senate’s energy security concerns.
If Russia uses energy supplies as a weapon — which is to say, if Putin follows through on his usual European security strategy — Germany warns of “Strong public messages using all appropriate channels and fora, condemning the [unacceptable] Russian behavior.” Berlin will also assess a suspension of dialogue with Moscow. And it will consider ruling out future energy projects with Russia.
Notably, the document offers no scenario in which Nord Stream’s operation might be suspended. But maybe there will be some angry letters involved.
Not only are Germany’s proposals to woo the U.S. Senate utterly pathetic, they’re complemented by an actual defense of Putin. The document declares that a “Rise in energy prices is a global phenomenon and cannot be exclusively attributed to Russia: Russia is currently fulfilling all delivery obligations, including the gas transit agreement with Ukraine, but it could do more: Recent announcements by Putin to increase deliveries to European gas storages are a step in the right direction.”
Of course the pandemic and energy supply shortages are driving prices high, but so too is Russia, which has oscillated between shutting off and reopening energy supplies, engineered reverse pipeline flows, threatened to cut off gas supplies entirely, cut off thermal coal supplies to Ukraine, and refused to increase energy supplies as prices soar and European reserves run low. Russia is doing all this as it simultaneously threatens war with Ukraine and lays waste to low Earth orbit.
Germany’s lobbying is proof positive that it is now a Putin ally as much as it is a founding NATO partner. And President “I’ll get tough on Putin” Biden is playing right along with Berlin.
The responsibility of Senate Republicans is thus clear. They should work together with all willing Democratic colleagues to pass their Nord Stream 2 amendment.
