Germany and America: Crisis of confidence

Technical Report · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6721996

Asmus, R D

The paper examines the deterioration in German-American relations. The reasons for this downturn in German-American relations are quite simple. Washington views the Persian Gulf crisis as a defining moment in European-American relations and in the creation of a new world order. It is also the first diplomatic test of a unified Germany and a new German-American relationship. It is a test that Germany is thus far seen as having failed for three reasons. First, from the outset many Americans sensed that Germans did not comprehend what this crisis meant for the United States. A second and, in many ways, more worrying factor was the growing sense that the Germans were not being good Europeans. The third and most serious American concern, however, was the unsettling appearance of a very selective German definition of collective defense and common security. The result has been a crisis of confidence in the performance of the German political elite that goes beyond the problems in German-American relations during the early 1980s and the INF debate.

• Research Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6721996
• Report Number(s): PB-93-142255/XAB; RAND/P--7703
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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