Germans are obsessed with the U.S. But they’ll deny it.
Resize Text Print Article Comments 75
By Rick Noack September 6
日本と重なるところもある。
When I moved back to Germany a few months ago, I was surprised to find out that even things that nobody seemed to care about in North America made it onto front pages here. When there's a shooting in the U.S., editors in Germany go into breaking news mode, even though the story probably won't ever make it onto most American newscasts.
It's a bizarre obsession: European (and particularly German) media spend more time reporting on and from the U.S. than from neighboring countries, including France and Britain.
For the Germans, it's a love-hate relationship
Here's one example: When the New York Times recently wrote a piece about the Berlin district of Wedding, German media went in overdrive, with commentators questioning whether the newspaper was correct in portraying the local district as up-and-coming. But the undertone seemed clear: "Wow, even the U.S. likes Wedding!"
Americans didn't actually care, of course. The daily paper Süddeutsche Zeitung later asked its readers in a moment of self-reflection: "American journalists praise Munich and Frankfurt, and now Berlin-Wedding -- and everyone is going crazy. But why?"
German journalists in particular don't usually spare an opportunity to comment negatively on U.S. society and politics -- yet, many of them seem to crave signs of approval from the U.S. "Germans see the U.S. almost as their father," says Timo Lochocki, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, a transatlantic think tank. "It's almost schizophrenic: They want to be admired by the U.S., but do everything to distance themselves from Americans."
The U.S. is an easy target
"Most German media outlets love to criticize the U.S. because it makes for such an easy target," says Stephan Bierling, a professor for international politics at the University of Regensburg. "There is a deep-rooted anti-Americanism in Germany that partially comes out of an inferiority complex. In a certain sense some Germans will never 'forgive' the Americans that they defeated the Nazis and brought about a stable world order because it reminds us that we couldn't get rid of the Nazis ourselves and were the main culprit for the division of Europe."
No other nationality triggers such strong emotions and associations in Germany. There are few people in the world Europeans feel more similar to than North Americans. At the same time, quite a lot of them have grown skeptical of the "big brother" overseas. They fear the National Security Agency, they ridicule its politics and gun laws, but many also secretly admire the global appeal and influence of the United States.
"We hold the U.S. responsible for all things that go wrong in the Middle East or Ukraine, but demand more American engagement to rectify these crisis situations," says German politics professor Bierling, who blames Germans for relying too much on the U.S. in resolving crises.
Given that Germany is increasingly perceived as the main actor in resolving that crisis, France and Britain are becoming irrelevant as benchmarks, Lochocki says. "The only other Western country Germany considers itself on the same level to is the U.S. -- and that's why we care so much about what Americans think of us."
"Germans have long blamed the U.S. for all its mistakes, but now they suddenly realize that leading a powerful nation is more difficult than they expected it to be.
ドイツでは近隣諸国のニュースよりもアメリカのニュースが多く、また、アメリカのメディアがドイツのことを取り上げると、そのことをドイツメディアも一斉に取り上げる、と。アメリカに注目してもらい、褒められるのがすきなのだ、と。他方、アメリカについては、同時に、NSAや銃社会について批判の対象でもあり、反米意識も根深く、ドイツ人にとってのアメリカは愛憎の対象である、と。アメリカはドイツにとって、父親のようなもので、褒めてもらいたいが、距離もおいておきたいのである、と。
中東のことでもなんでもアメリカのせいにして、アメリカに
下駄を預けてきたが、それは、アメリカに全面依存している、ということと裏腹で、もっと独立思考でいかないと駄目だ、という論者も。
アメリカの過ちについて長く非難してきたドイツであるが、最近では、欧州のなかで、ドイツが責任を負わされ始め、実際、責任をもたされると、指導者の立場にいるとうことが案外難しいことを自覚しはじめている、と。
ーーーアメリカというのは超大国で、権力者に注目が集まり、また、批判されるのは、悪いことではない。
そして、ダースベイダーでも何でも、強力な権力、力の持ち主について、ある種の畏敬と反感があるのは、わりに普遍的なこと。
アメリカに対する愛と憎しみ、そして、アメリカに褒めてもらいたい依存心というのは、日本でも共通するところがあるのではないか。
今度は、アメリカのナルシズムについての記事が読みたいものだ。
