German Foreign Policy and the War on Iraq: Anti-Americanism, Pacifism or Emancipation?

Abstract

The clash between Berlin and Washington over the war on Iraq in 2002–03 came as a surprise to the community of scholars and analysts watching German foreign policy and transatlantic relations. Attempts to explain German behaviour have mostly focused on either the anti-American or the pacifist nature of German society. There is some relevance in these explanations, but they poorly explain the timing of the change, its sudden emergence and its focus on the Iraq issue. This article argues that the most important driving force behind the change was neither anti-Americanism nor pacifism, but rather Germany’s political emancipation. The Germans had been gradually growing into their role as a leading power in Europe that is willing to take on greater international responsibility. When Berlin felt that it was not consulted in the decisionmaking process, it reacted strongly. The question at stake was the nature of the world order and the relations of the USA to its allies, and no longer the single issue of Iraq.

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“…According to Ole Waever, the territorially defined borders do not apply to foreign policy in today's world, or emancipatory foreign policy in particular (Waever, 1994). For countries like Germany, ‗emancipation' refers to‖ a new sense of self-esteem, independence, and follow[s] enlightened self-interest‖ (Forsberg 2005). For China, emancipation is considered an anti-hegemonic attitude (Yilmaz 2016), and for other countries such as Egypt and the Arab Uprising countries, the claims of emancipation during the first wave of the Uprising of 2011 meant both of these understandings, including seeking independence, countering hegemony and restoring national self-esteem.…”

The public images of Britain, Germany, and France in the United States

“…45 Second, the public image of Germany in the US clearly suffered from the Schrö der government's opposition to the Iraq war: after the German Chancellor first chose to openly confront the Bush administration on the issue of Iraq during a general election campaign in August 2002, Americans began to view Germany in a less positive light, and the country's favourability rating reached its low point in 2004. 46 Third, the public image of Germany in the US quickly recovered after 2004, and in 2007 Americans already judged the country as favourably as they did prior to the conflict over Iraq. This resurgence in positive views on Germany in the US public mirrors the swift normalisation of GermanÁAmerican relations on the level of governments, which was fostered by deliberate efforts of the Schrö der government since late 2003 to mend fences with its counterpart in the US and above all by the selfconsciously pro-American posture of the newly elected government of Angela Merkel from 2005 onwards.…”

The Media Salience of Germany's Bilateral Relations to the United States, France and Britain

“…Significant cases in point are the debate about Germany's participation in the war on terror which was intimately linked to US-German relations and the controversy about the Iraq war which was framed in large part as a decision of the German government to side with France against the US. 49 Since 2008, the international financial crisis and then the Eurozone crisis have further primed Germany's relations to the US and, in particular, France in the German political debate. 50 The close connection of US-German and Franco-German relations to such high-profile international issues and conflicts, many of which have triggered substantial contestation in the German domestic political arena, will have sustained a high news value of the two relationships and thus significant media reporting on them.…”