Monthly Archives: Februar 2008

“We will prevail” - “Wir werden siegen”

25. Februar 2008 – 23:25

Whenever the American Ambassador in Germany is in the news I mark it in my calendar. Average once a year. And as I am over-average interested in German-American relations I read his article in die WELT today which was about “NATO, the Germans and Afghanistan” and I agree to every word he says. But who [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in Germany, USA | Comments Off

Germany drifting left

24. Februar 2008 – 18:25

I see “red”. The Left has won 6,5 % of the votes in Hamburg. This is the third West-German parliament they have entered this year. And FDP is struggling at 5 %.
Update Feb 25, 2008: The Free Democrats didn’t manage to jump the 5 percent hurdle in Hamburg. That is really bad news. But there [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in Germany | Comments Off

Germany drifting left?

24. Februar 2008 – 12:03

I did not yet write about the outcome of the state elections in Hesse and Lower-Saxony which took place end of January because I found the results quite frustrating. Most shocking to me is the fact that a far left-wing party called “Die Linke” (= The Left) entered both Parliaments.
SPON about the origins of [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in Germany | Comments Off

Taliban want equal time at RFE/RL

23. Februar 2008 – 22:55

In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington Jeff Gedmin, President of RFE/RL, talked about the motives behind American smart power in general and RFE/RL in particular: pragmatism, idealism, American values / universal values and enlightened self- interest. The speech provided plenty of examples about the successes and challenges [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in USA, anti-Americanism | Comments Off

Who is slipping – Gates or BILD?

17. Februar 2008 – 22:16

OK, mass-market BILD-Zeitung is not really what you would call an intellectual newspaper, but it is usually more America- and Israel-friendly than most other newspapers in Germany. The more I was surprised on Thursday (Feb 14, 2008) when reading BILD`s winner-looser column. It showed Robert Gates as looser.
The text on page one reads:
Letzte Woche sorgte [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in Germany, USA, anti-Americanism | Comments Off

“Victory seemed almost preordained”

10. Februar 2008 – 11:14

Robert Gates, U. S. Secretary of Defense, Speech at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy, February 10, 2008
Excerpts:
(…) During the 1990s, even as we tried to predict what form the threats of the 21st century would take, Afghanistan was, in reality becoming exactly what we were discussing in theory. Subsequent events during the intervening [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in Germany, USA, anti-Americanism | Comments Off

“Deutschland im Dunkeln” - Germany in the dark

01. Februar 2008 – 18:23

“Klima: Deutschland im Dunkeln” von Steffi Augter, wiwo.de, 31.01.2008 :
Laptop und Lederhosen – Bayern, das Land der gelebten Gegensätze, boomt. Doch ob die Krachlederne auch künftig an der Spitze des Fortschritts marschiert, wie Franz Josef Strauß es einst wünschte, ist ungewiss. Denn dem Laptop könnte wie dem Rest des Landes schlicht der Strom ausgehen. Die [...]

By Karin Quade | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off