Your Friends Are Listening In

That the National Security Agency supposedly tapped Gerhard Schröder’s phone does not come as a surprise. From an American perspective, if any allied head of government was to be mistrusted, it was him.

Is former Chancellor Schröder a victim of phone tapping too? That really would not be much of a surprise. If any German chancellor has annoyed the U.S. in recent times, then it was Schröder: not just because of his opposition to the Iraq War, but also because of the way he dealt with Germany’s important NATO partner. From an American perspective, if any allied head of government was to be mistrusted, it was him.

There is not much use now in calling for another investigation of a scandal about whose scope Washington has already been sufficiently informed, and not without success. It is also not so important whether or not there is an antispying agreement. The important thing is how Germany protects its interests in this important, yet difficult, relationship.

If there is still any will — and need — to continue working together with Washington, then further concessions will have to be made. Independently of this, a separate digital agenda must be promoted. There is now something approaching a national consciousness for this.