GERMANY AND THE EUROPE: Is Germany too Powerful for Europe? Its Not a Zero-Sum Game well friends what I know is: that its Germany which saved EU during the Euro Crisis as well as Greece Financial Crisis and I admire the Iron Lady Angela Merkel for her decent and amazing charm and leadership KAC Much of the criticism targeted at Germany and its primarily economic prowess takes for granted a Europe, and indeed a world, caught up in a prisoners dilemma: where the gain of one is necessarily at the expense of others, otherwise known as a zero-sum game. In the European Union context however, this is not the case. A powerful Germany has been and will continue to be a source of stability for both Europe and its neighbors. German sociologist Ulrich Beck recently called Germany a political monster. Instead of force, Beck argues, Germany imposes its will on others via politics and economics. It imposes its values on weaker states, demanding restructuring in exchange for sorely needed help. However, an outline of the historical context is in order. It is nothing short of remarkable that in the last several decades, Germany has made a complete about-face in the political and economic spheres. Politically, Germany has gone from being a country plagued by National Socialism and the evils that accompanied it, to being a premier member of both the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It has gone from being a militarily expansionist country, to one that champions nuclear disarmament, and spending a comparatively low 1.3% of GDP on its military. Perhaps especially meaningful is the fact that Germany has signed the Rome Statute and remains active in the International Criminal Court (ICC). Economically, Germany has rebuilt its economy after the Second World War with an eye on science, engineering, mathematics, and technology (STEM) sectors emerging as an economic powerhouse, despite the damage incurred during the war. After the Cold War, Germanys reunification seemed economically daunting but has since largely been a great success. Significantly, Poland – the first country Hitlers army invaded in 1939 – finds in Germany its largest trading partner. Why the context? All too often, discussions of Germanys prowess omit the glaring fact that emerges from this framework: Germany is a country deeply integrated and connected with the surrounding region and world, which, historically speaking is a dramatic and positive development. Far from being a threat to Eurozone stability, Germany increasingly finds itself the true bedrock. This is good. Germany should not be punished for doing well, and for caring about the stability of the very economic project upon which it relies. Furthermore, Germanys success is not absolute, and should not be depicted as such. In a recent report title Looking to 2060, the OECD predicted Germanys average growth at a meager 1.1% per year for the next fifty years. Although this may seem like heaven to economies like that of Greece, which have shrunken dramatically in recent years, it ranks second-to-last in the OECD rankings, just behind Luxembourg. In addition, Germans are suffering from a potentially calamitous population decline. Low birth rates, coupled with very modest net immigration, will likely cause Germany to fall behind France and the UK in the next fifty years. The slow but steady rise of extreme-right parties, hostile to immigration, does not do much to ameliorate concerns about immigration policy. In a recent Financial Times piece, Tony Barber said that if Germany were to collect one euro for every piece of advice it receives on how it should act in the European economic crisis, its current account surplus would be even bigger than it is. This may be true, but the following suggestion addresses the question of too much power head on: instead of viewing an ever-larger surplus as a sign of economic virility, Germany should worry about a potentially distorted economy. Furthermore, the European Commission should not be afraid to mention the lopsided nature of EU fiscal policy recommendations (an account deficit of 4%, but surplus of 6%, triggers alerts within the system). Germany can and should remain a powerful player on a European and indeed global scale. It could stand, though, to spend a bit more, perhaps on worker wages, education, and investment in infrastructure. Insofar as perception feeds into reality, Germanys power should be wielded just as much to play nice as it is today to play tough. This game is not zero sum, and in following this advice, Germany, Europe, and its economic and political partners can all win. Veronica Czastkiewicz is a Ph.D. candidate at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. Her primary fields of study are in public policy and American Government, specifically issue framing.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 14:13:33 +0000