A Meeting of Sycophants

Two people connected by their respective “outsider” backgrounds met in Washington.

No earth-shaking decisions were expected to come out of Angela Merkel’s state visit to the United States. What made this visit special was the casual conversational tone, the relaxed nature and the almost flippant interaction between the German chancellor and the U.S. president. Hey, Angela! Hey, Barack!

Both have some difficulty in becoming political friends. Encounters between such rationalist state leaders are primarily business meetings about national interests. Participants don’t normally embrace and exchange kisses, and Merkel mainly looked stiff as a board. Still, compared to earlier meetings, the two now appear much more relaxed with one another.

When Obama was asked whether he would be visiting Baden-Baden, Dresden and Buchenwald on a visit to Berlin as president, he smiled and said, “The last time I was there, we had a lot of fun.” Translated, that probably means no return visit before the presidential election in 2012. Until then, he won’t have much time for fun, but he would be happy to visit again if he’s returned to office for a second term.

With a grin, Merkel couldn’t resist promising that the Brandenburg Gate would be around for quite some time. Both had a hearty laugh, even though most American journalists in the room didn’t get the joke. Hardly any of them recalled that during the 2008 campaign, Obama wanted to give a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, but Merkel wasn’t exactly enthralled by the idea.

Otherwise, they piled on mutual compliments and wrapped all their disagreements up in pleasantries. Mr. President, are you disappointed in Germany’s hesitation to support the U.N. Security Council’s call for a no-fly zone in Libya? Not a chance. Obama praised Germany for its increased support in Afghanistan. That relieved the allies and gave them more freedom in opposing Libya’s Gadhafi. Madam Chancellor, should a deeply indebted United States try to economize? Every country has to make its own decisions, Merkel replied.

Their differences were only subliminally apparent, as when Obama mentioned he hoped for Germany’s active participation in rebuilding Libya once Gadhafi has finally been removed.

Other than that, they talked shoulder-to-shoulder German-American cooperation: Generous assistance for those nations of the Middle East and North Africa seeking freedom, no support for a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence, no premature withdrawal of German troops from Afghanistan — everything cooperatively and right in step with the United States.

The official visit to Washington demonstrated the same thing as her longer conversation in February 2009 as the dinner guest of the British prime minister: Both saw themselves as national leaders who share an “outsider” biography. That was their connection. Angela Merkel stressed that point this time as well.