January 04, 2005
Mature relationships
German ambassador to the US Wolfgang Ischinger is generally viewed as one of the more brilliant heads in German foreign policy. I read his article on US-European relations in last week's Zeit magazine and had two immediate thoughts:
1. Oh, I'd love to share this article on the blog, if only it were in English.
2. Hm, the sentence structure somehow feels English.
Well, not for nothing am I a trained translator. It turns out that the original English article appeared in newly launched German paper called "The Atlantic Times" back in December and can be read on the website of the German Embassy in Washington.
Interesting read, that.
Posted by claudia at January 4, 2005 04:28 PMVery interesting. Thanks, Claudia.
Posted by: Bernard Guerrero at January 4, 2005 06:44 PMA very interesting article. A lot of it seemed more process-focused than content-oriented (e.g., the discussion of the International Criminal Court didn't really go into the question of "will this actually, reliably, bring more people to justice"), though.
Posted by: Tony Zbaraschuk at January 4, 2005 09:46 PM"If we agree, as we should, that the United Nations, while far from perfect, have served us well for five decades,"
I think I'd like to hear more support for that premise...
" then both sides of the Atlantic should embrace efforts to reform the UN system. "
Oh, I agree with THAT. Let's agree that the EU, like the US, needn't bother to send separate representatives for Belgium, Holland, Portugal, etc etc to the UN General Assembly -- no more than should the US send separate ambassadors from Utah, Ohio, and Alabama. A single "EU" representative is sufficient. Too, it is terribly unbalanced to have both France and Britain exercising veto power on behalf of the EU in the UN Security Council -- while Germany has no such power at all. Perhaps a single "EU" slot on the Security Council would be better -- while India should take over the British role?
I think reforming the UN is an idea that affords a great deal of scope for the imagination. But frankly I find it unlikely that the US and EU can begin with common interests and objectives in doing so.
Posted by: POUNCER at January 4, 2005 11:22 PM