The last time I wrote a blog post I talked about the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic Konrad Adenauer setting the template for a modern day Germany. Today that all came full circle in our seminars about antisemitism, contemporary German politics and a visit to the foreign office to learn about Germany’s foreign policy.
Every time I engage in a discussion about Germany’s foreign policy the first words as they were today “it’s about multilateralism and doing things not alone but always finding a partner.” Germany in learning from its history in the Second World War in the principles instilled by Adenauer understands the multipolar geopolitics of today and that being on the right side of history means engaging through cooperation with allies to defeat autocracy. Diplomats and academics we engaged with today spoke passionately about global institutions such as the United Nations and NATO and the values of democracy and human rights they seek to uphold in the face of aggression from Russia in Ukraine. In the Middle East while understanding their role of supporting Israel as a Jewish state they see it more broadly in supporting humanitarian aid and an overall nuanced strategy to bring hostilities to an end.
The transatlantic alliance remains the bedrock of international order and Germany relishes its role in cooperating with the United States from everything from security to science and technology. In learning its place in the world from history Germany has realized in its contemporary politics and foreign policy Adenauer’s of it being force for good as the world is once again at a major inflection point.