Since the nations of the oil-rich Middle East gained independence from Britain in the early 20th century, no single Western nation has been able to exert any real control over the region’s coveted energy resources. Yet, numerous countries continue to seek to cozy up to the resource-rich Islamic nations of the Middle East.
One nation keen to take advantage of the present destabilization in the region is Germany. Since the U.S.-led campaign in Iraq, the differences between U.S. and German foreign policy over this region have become quite pronounced. The Asia Times recently reported that “while the American government is seeking Iran’s isolation, Berlin is moving in the opposite direction” (June 11, emphasis ours throughout).
Germany, as we have clearly seen through the Iraqi war, has a mind of its own when it comes to Mideast affairs—thus widening the Atlantic rift. The Asia Times article continued, “[T]he Germans now seek to consolidate their ties with [Iran] in pursuit of their national interests in the oil-rich Persian Gulf region.” Germany is willing to put its “friendship” with America on the line in order to keep the oil tap open to fuel its giant economy.
Of deeper significance is the swing in German foreign policy, wherein it is now willing to exchange its 50-year-old friendship with the U.S.—the generosity of which funded Germany’s rebuilding as a thriving post-war national economy—for that of a rogue nation that is touting its imminent nuclear capability.
Despite U.S. efforts to curb Europe’s ties with Iran, in May, Benno Bunse, director of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economics and Labor, declared, “[G]iven the solid economic outlook and the good payment experience of the past … Germany is ready to continue and increase its support to German-Iranian economic cooperation” (Chemical News & Intelligence, May 18).
This overt slap in Washington’s face by Berlin is in stark contrast to the simultaneous diplomatic efforts to rebuild the U.S.-German relationship. It does, however, reflect the duplicitous nature of the forces at play.