The international community was dismayed when German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier earlier this year sent a congratulatory letter to the government of Iran on the 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution, an event that spread terror around the globe. This is not the first time Germany has shown support for nations that espouse anti-Western ideals, and it reflects their disruption of our transatlantic partnerships and Western geopolitical strategy.

At the end of World War II, the Allied powers convened the Potsdam Conference to determine how Germany would be supervised, considering its role as the instigator of the war. After restraints on Germany following World War I proved unsuccessful at preventing another global conflict, it was decided that more stringent measures had to be taken. Germany was divided into four quadrants to be directly controlled by the four Allied powers. The United States controlled the southern zone, Britain the northwest, France the southwest, and the Soviet Union controlled the east zone. Berlin, located within the Soviet-occupied territory, was run jointly by the Allies until 1948, when the city was split between East and West Berlin. Germany was ultimately reunified in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall during the decline of the Soviet Union.