Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Germany in two minds over leadership role
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 10 - 02 - 2012


Reuters
For six decades, Germany heeded Nobel laureate Thomas Mann's advice to seek “not a German Europe, but a European Germany”.
The euro zone crisis appears to have swept this post-war caution aside. Two years into the debt disaster, Germany looks increasingly confident in the role of economic superpower, pushing its model of fiscal discipline on the European Union.
But matching its new-found economic dominance with bolder leadership in foreign and security policy — something partners like the United States are urging on Berlin — is another matter for a country which has shied away from geopolitical power because of its Nazi past.
Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere, one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's most trusted aides, summed up the dilemma when he spoke at the annual Munich security conference this month.
Many allies now consider that Germany has “the same rights and therefore the same obligations” as other major powers, he said, “but in Europe there are still people who worry about too much German leadership rather than too little German leadership.”
Since the euro crisis began in 2009, Germany has grown from reluctant bailout paymaster to a position of such influence that its unbending drive for austerity helped bring about the exit of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy and George Papandreou in Greece. It has also imposed a “fiscal compact” for EU budget discipline.
While other major EU economies flounder, Germany has posted growth of 3 percent or better for two straight years. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in a battle to win re-election, now openly cites Germany as a model and has enlisted Merkel's help in the campaign to bolster his own damaged credibility.
But Germany's rise has not been without blunders, such as a heavy-handed proposal to send a “kommissar” to Greece to oversee its austerity drive, or the clumsy comment from a senior Merkel lawmaker that all Europe was now “speaking German”.
Berlin is also accused of being unwilling to pay the price of leadership by resisting calls from the International Monetary Fund and others to pay more money into euro zone bailout funds.
For some, though, it punches beneath its weight on the world stage, notably refusing to join NATO allies in air strikes against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year. This was a “disappointment”, said Heather Conley of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
With a stream of foreign leaders coming for enlightenment on how the economy has defied gravity, Berlin feels like Europe's new capital. But Merkel gets conflicting messages.
She must lead the euro zone out of crisis, but in acting she may find the cartoonist's pen too often straying towards images of the overbearing Nazi or a beckoning “Fourth Reich”.
Germany's initial reluctance to play this domineering role, and the restraints the constitution places on the chancellor's ability to act without consultation, bred frustration in world capitals and financial markets at the slow deliberations in Merkel's office and the Bundestag (parliament).
As the crisis drags on, however, Germany has been encouraged to take a more uncompromisingly decisive role.
__


Clic here to read the story from its source.