Der Spiegel on U.S.-German Relations

A very interesting article in Der Spiegel about U.S.-German relations, the NSA investigation, and Ukraine in light of Angela Merkel's recent trip to Washington. The bottom line is that the Ukraine crisis and the resulting need for U.S.-European unity are forcing Merkel to back off both on her demands for changes to the U.S.-German intelligence relationship and on her interest in aggressively investigating NSA matters. Much of the substance of the article has been in the U.S. press already, but it's a good distillation of the issue and told compellingly from Merkel's point of view. And it captures, I think, a very important dynamic as to why the NSA matters are blowing over internationally: the U.S.-German relationship is rooted in deep mutual interests. Matters like spying can irritate the relationship, but they don't ultimately determine the relationship. This is, I think, why spying---even between allies---has persisted unregulated in international law over such a long period of time. It is why the U.S. can be annoyed over long periods of time by, say, French industrial espionage yet never let it condition the ultimate U.S.-French relationship. At the end of the day, these relationships are conditioned by more macro forces. When the German leadership pursues its main international objectives, it needs the United States, even with the U.S.'s propensity to spy in contravention of German law, so the German leadership looks beyond that particular disagreement. Here are the key paragraphs of the article, which I recommend in its entirety:

Obama welcomed Merkel by calling her "one of my closest partners" and a "friend" and took her on a tour of the White House vegetable garden as part of the four hours he made available. He praised her as a "strong partner" in the Ukraine crisis and thanked her many times for the close cooperation exhibited in recent years. The birds in the Rose Garden sang happily as the president spoke.

But then Obama made clear who had the upper hand in this wonderfully harmonious relationship. When a reporter asked why, in the wake of theNSA spying scandal, the no-spy deal between Germany and the US had collapsed, Obama avoided giving a clear answer. He also dodged a question as to whether Merkel's staff is still monitored. Instead, he stayed vague: "As the world's oldest continuous constitutional democracy, I think we know a little bit about trying to protect people's privacy." That was it.

Merkel, when asked if trust had been rebuilt following the NSA revelations, was much less sanguine. "There needs to be and will have to be more than just business as usual," she said.

If accepting defeat with a smile on one's face is part of political theater, then Angela Merkel delivered a virtuoso performance. As recently as January, she delivered a sharply worded speech to parliament on the tactics used by US intelligence. "An approach in which the end justifies the means -- one which employs every technical tool available -- violates trust. It sows distrust." She added: "I am convinced that friends and allies should also be able and willing to cooperate when it comes to defending against outside threats."

Cooperation? When Merkel left for the US last Thursday, she had received no promises whatsoever -- not even for the no-spy treaty, an agreement that the US had initially proposed in response to German outrage over revelations that the NSA had scooped up vast amounts of telecommunications data in Germany and monitored Chancellor Merkel's mobile phone. Had Merkel adhered to the common practice among top politicians of avoiding trips abroad when no concrete result can be expected, she would have stayed in Berlin.

But there is a kind of special relationship between Berlin and Washington at the moment -- special in that the Chancellor wants to do everything to avoid a conflict with the US. She had every reason in the world to veer from diplomatic politesse. Her very own cell phone, after all, had been targeted by the NSA. But instead, she brought along a valuable gift for Obama: The promise that whistleblower Edward Snowden would not be coming to Germany to give testimony in the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into NSA spying practices.

Merkel still gets animated when talking about American surveillance, but only when the cameras are off. In the Rose Garden last week, she remained just as vague as Obama did, preferring to speak of "differences of opinion." But there are to be no immediate consequences.

The reason is not difficult to pinpoint: The Ukraine crisis. With the situation continuing to escalate, Merkel is eager to demonstrate unity with Obama and the two threatened Russia with further economic sanctions. But the solidarity comes at a price: Merkel has had to back away from some of her own convictions.