Cold waking-up to reality for Germany

[Skybird]

So0me worth-to-read reflections on Germany's limited role in the world.

The United States believes that it is not obligated to consult with its allies because it feels sufficiently confident in its own strength. This makes it easier for the Americans to take political action than for the Germans to. Whenever the Americans feel that something is truly important to them, they suddenly become unilateralists. They take it upon themselves to make decisions. The Germans, on the other hand, are virtually powerless to make international decisions on their own, and perhaps this is not even their intention. This is why they are multilateralists, their decisions consistently dependent on seeking allies. Germany does want to exert its influence on world events, but its role as a medium-sized power precludes it from being able to assert this claim. (...)
Merkel is now being forced to realize that she is no longer stands at Europe's helm. Sarkozy, even if he calms down, has far more élan than Chirac, who doddered toward the end of his term. The new British prime minister, Gordon Brown, is no lame duck -- as Tony Blair was for a prolonged period of time -- but a man with great ambitions. Neither of the two men is burdened by the histories of their respective countries.
After the catastrophe of the Third Reich, the Germans were forced to behave in a different way on the international stage. They learned to be modest. For a country with such a horrific past, it was unseemly to mention national interests and, even more so, to pursue them. The sort of unbroken national consciousness that prevails in the United States, France and Great Britain could no longer exist in Germany. But the Germans managed to turn this drawback into a virtue, building a reputation for being understanding and reserved. They developed the principle: What is good for Europe is good for Germany. In his book "Germany's Return -- an Undivided Postwar History," journalist Peter Bender pointed out that East Germany was particularly socialistic while West Germany was particularly European, because both were no longer permitted to be truly German.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...498578,00.html