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Protect Germany: “Yes”, Trust the United States: “No”
| Reading time: 4 minutes
“America is back”
As Donald Trump continues to hold on to his power, successor Joe Biden is already beginning preparations for his presidency. In the meantime, he has spoken with many top heads of government and announced better cooperation.
A poll shows the contradictory relationship between Germans and the United States. It is true that Biden’s election in this country raises hopes for a better relationship. But there is great mistrust in many areas. Another country is seen as an important partner.
reJoe Biden’s electoral victory has brought relief to many in Europe and the expectation that transatlantic relations will improve significantly. But the long way Biden still has to go to achieve this is demonstrated by new data from the Körber Foundation survey, which WELT released in advance.
According to this, 79 percent of German citizens consider German-American relations at the end of the Trump era to be quite bad or even very bad, while only 18 percent consider them good. 78 percent of those surveyed say that relations deteriorated with Trump and would normalize with Biden. 13 percent, on the other hand, remain pessimistic and believe that even President Biden will not change the bad relationship between the two countries.
One thing seems clear: there is great mistrust in the partner on the other side of the Atlantic. The fight for the American elections, Trump’s manipulation accusations, and his continued efforts to sabotage Biden’s victory have also led to a great loss of confidence in American democracy in Germany.
53 percent of Germans surveyed say the US elections have weakened their confidence in American democracy, while only 34 percent believe that American democracy will emerge stronger from an election that took place under difficult conditions due to the pandemic of the crown. Slightly more than half of Germans say they are concerned about the elections. And even after the victory of the ocean liner Biden, the majority of Germans (51 percent) say that their country and Europe should become more independent from the United States. Only 45 percent want closer ties with Washington after Biden’s victory.
However, there are already signs of slight changes in the German foreign policy view of the United States. Before the elections, only ten percent of Germans viewed the US as Germany’s most important partner in the world, far behind France with 54 percent. After Biden’s victory, nearly a quarter (23 percent) now see the United States as the most important partner, while France falls to 43 percent.
Source: WORLD infographic
In the spring, a survey conducted by the Körber Foundation caused much excitement because the Germans considered close ties with China more important than close ties with the United States. Meanwhile, however, the Germans view China much more critically.
In a direct comparison of the two countries, a clear majority now say they want closer relations with the United States, while only 27 percent prefer closer relations with Beijing. A growing number of Germans (43 percent) view China’s growing influence in the world as negative, while 46 percent are neutral and 10 percent view it as positive.
Despite this growing unease with China compared to previous polls, 82 percent want Germany to remain neutral if tensions between Washington and Beijing escalate into a new Cold War. An overwhelming majority of nearly two-thirds of Germans do not see the US as a partner in dealing with the Chinese dictatorship.
That’s one of the most impressive results of Körber’s new study: how little Germans see the United States as a partner in international politics. When asked if the United States is a partner of Germany, it looks like this on the following topics: 58% “No” when it comes to ensuring free trade, 57% “No” when it comes to protecting democracy and rights. humans, 63% “No” when it comes to China. and an overwhelming 84 percent believe the United States is not a partner in protecting the climate.
Source: WORLD infographic
But when it comes to preventing Iran’s atomic bomb, the picture is indecisive (47 percent “no”, 45 percent “yes”). The only question is whether the United States is a partner in protecting and defending Europe. Obviously, a lot of trust was lost in the Trump years and Joe Biden will have to invest heavily if he wants to regain this trust.
Meanwhile, the US media is reporting that Biden wants to name Antony Blinken Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Jake Sullivan National Security Advisor. Both are professionals, recognized figures in the transatlantic relationship, who defend the traditional leadership role of the United States in the Western Alliance. Biden is sending a signal of partnership and reliability to Europe.
After Trump’s wild experiments, calm and stability should return to America’s foreign policy. It remains to be seen whether this will lead more Germans to see the United States again as a partner in solving international problems or whether the impact of the Trump era will continue in a few years.
