Many in Eastern Europe are beginning to wonder what lies ahead for their collective security, now that the US has cooled to the idea of following through on commitments it has made to the region’s defense. What’s worse is that, according to Stratfor, this comes at a time in which one sees both a revanchist Russia and what Eastern Europe believes is a Germany incrementally re-orienting itself away from the US and towards a more classic Russo-German arrangement. Needless to say, Sweden wouldn’t be too happy about this, either.

The problem here is that Stratfor may have been jumping the gun just a bit, as perceptions about Germany in Eastern Europe are still very much favorable – particularly with Angela Merkel running the government and the increasing possibility of further gains by the CDU in September based on surprisingly positive economic numbers for the Federal Republic. Furthermore, Germany has been one of the leading champions of Eastern European accession to the EU and Eastern European countries have directly and significantly benefitted from economic ties with Germany.

As for fears of Nord Stream fanning the flames of increasing Russian power over Europe, that project has already been written off as nothing but a cost-prohibitive show pony, serving no other purpose than to demonstrate to Ukraine that Russia has other options to transit energy. The same purpose can be identified with South Stream, intended by Russia to head Southern and Eastern European gas competitors off at the pass.  

Naturally a Germany reasserting its independent role in the world is to be expected some 70 years after the end of the Second World War. Germany will continue to do so economically, politically, and militarily. However, the idea that Eastern Europeans are losing sleep over the resurgence of a German threat is preposterous. Even with rumors of Germany also re-asserting itself in the clandestine world, it is more important to understand the political intentions of the government, which are still far less nefarious than those of Moscow – and Eastern Europeans get this.

That said, the world will certainly be watching with some curiosity as Russian President Dmitri Medvedev meets with his German as well as Finnish counterparts later this month. If Eastern Europe seems to be most worried about anything from Germany, it is increasing neutrality that could allow Russia a freer hand in promoting its interests in the region.

It is true that Germany is by no means perfect. Like Russia, its politics and society also have been tarnished slightly by the presence, through no fault of their own, of millions of Germans who were indoctrinated with Communist ideology all of their lives. However, there are also plenty of Angela Merkels, who have grown up in Eastern Germany and, after seeing firsthand the misery and tragedy that was life under Communism, committed their lives to the cause of freedom and democracy.

There is certainly room for progress in terms of human liberty or genuine (not Communist-fabricated) economic justice. Germany’s taxes are quite confiscatory, thus hindering what would no doubt be an engine of economic growth that would be frightful in its output. Germany also has some rather strange views of social conformity, in part expressed in laws that hearken back to its dark past in the 1930s. For instance, one law that is naturally under criticism was enacted by Adolf Hitler himself and banned religious parents from home schooling their children, not for fear of poor education, but of values imparted by the parents that might not conform to those of the state (at the time, the dictates of der Führer). There is yet, therefore, a troubling streak that tries to punish individualism – a value necessary for any longstanding liberal democracy to exist and flourish; however, these are clearly small missteps.

So, naturally, Germany is an imperfect state, but what state isn’t? Does Germany need to address these issues? Of course. Are they serious? Indeed they are to those being affected, but overall Germany is much improved over the pre-World War II variant dating back to its creation as a unified political body in 1871. I suppose we can at least give Germany credit for this: it is not blaming or invading its neighbors or cutting off or driving up the cost of the commodity it sells for “fear” of being picked on as Russia is. At least Germany seems to know for the moment it is a bit of a giant and can’t throw its weight around. We’ll see if that lasts. For now, no worries.