Berlin (SCF) – The tenure of Angela Merkel as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany has been a disaster for her country and for Europe. That’s why it’s a refreshing change finally to have an issue where it is possible to agree with her.
Merkel, along with other voices in Germany and Austria, has denounced a bill (S. 722) passed by the U.S. Senate to impose new sanctions on Russia and Iran. In particular, Merkel has observed, correctly, that the legislation, if adopted, would negatively impact oil and gas pipeline deals with Russia. She evidently objects that this would be a unilateral U.S. action that would harm the interests of Germany and other countries without even consulting them.
There’s no doubt that S. 722 – which passed the Senate by a vote of 98-2, with only Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders voting No – is a terrible piece of legislation. Its fundamental purpose is to tie President Trump’s hands so that he cannot exercise his constitutional authority to conduct relations with foreign states. Specifically, Senators of both parties want to ensure that he doesn’t have the ability to reach out and normalize ties with Moscow. To do that, a super-majority of Senators is willing to violate every principle of international law and comity, as well as damaging relationships with our top security and trade partners.
Perhaps the most entertaining aspect is Mrs. Merkel’s threat to «retaliate» if the new sanctions bill becomes law. Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humor! This, from someone who folded like a house of cards when she found out Barack Obama had the NSA tap into her mobile phone. The emptiness of Merkel’s threat is an illustration of the point recently made by President Vladimir Putin that Russia is one of the few states in today’s world that has the luxury of being truly sovereign. Germany does not have that luxury. The Germans’ foreign policy, their intelligence policy, and other security institutions are essentially controlled by their American counterparts. Their financial sector is extremely vulnerable to any retaliation from Washington. So what can Merkel do to us? Not much.
«‘The Nord Stream II project undermines the solidarity in the E.U.,’ the company said in a statement yesterday as if that’s Naftogaz’s real concern».
What sense does any of this make in terms of U.S. national interests? The key is Rapoza’s observation that «Trump has been beat up so severely on Russia that defending any sort of detente with the Kremlin seems futile.» As with the worsening danger of U.S.-Russian confrontation in Syria, American policy on Europe, Ukraine, and Russia, along with related energy issues, is still in the hands of the Swamp Creatures. Nothing good can come of it unless and until Trump manages to gain effective control of the government of which he is the constitutionally elected head.
This post was originally written by James George Jatras and was originally published by Strategic Culture Foundation.