ASSESSMENTS

Amid Spy Row, Germany Seeks a More Independent Foreign Policy

Jul 15, 2014 | 09:50 GMT

Germany Seeks A More Independent Foreign Policy
An American flag flies in front of the Brandenburg Gate, near the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, on July 7.

(Adam Berry/Getty Images)

Summary

On July 13, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier met to calm tensions between the United States and Germany brought about by alleged U.S. espionage in Germany. The allegations spawned weeks of friction at a time when Germany had begun reshaping its foreign policy, seeking a balance between its military and political ties with the United States and its trade and energy ties with Russia.

Two and a half decades after reunification, Germany is starting to develop a more independent foreign policy, an idea that the country's leaders are finding has electoral merit. While a formal break between Germany and the United States cannot be expected, Berlin will choose how to challenge the White House selectively in the coming years.

Recent tensions with the United States indicate that Berlin is no longer automatically aligned with Washington....

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