Angsty Allies

From AEI:

Angsty Allies By Michael Auslin

Wall Street Journal Asia

Thursday, July 22, 2010











"We're afraid of losing America to Japan," a German parliamentarian tells me. When pressed, he reveals that this is a common concern, in his opinion, among European foreign policy officials watching Washington's struggle to manage global crises and commitments. Europe and the EU, in this Bundestag member's opinion, lack global influence due to a shrinking capability to play a significant security role abroad. Thus, America increasingly discounts Europe's role and turns to other states that can bear more of the global security burden.



Japan experts are not used to hearing anyone claim that Tokyo is a more significant global actor than, say Britain or even Germany itself, which will soon have 5,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. My interlocutor in Berlin, however, is looking at the long-term effect of declining defense budgets, popular opposition to the war in Afghanistan, and disturbing trends such as the likely end to German conscription, which will make it even more difficult for Berlin to uphold its current security roles.



Perhaps even more intriguing, this parliamentarian is from one of Germany's left parties, but fears his country's global influence shrinking, along with that of the EU, and expects the resulting abandonment by America. Comparing his country further with Japan, he argues that Tokyo is waking up to the threat of North Korea, while Germany refuses to recognize the threat Iran poses. . . .



This article is available by subscription from the Wall Street Journal Asia. The full text will be posted to AEI.org on Monday, July 26.



Michael Auslin is a resident scholar at AEI.