German chancellor says rethink will be needed if US waves goodbye to global role
The rest of the world can no longer take it for granted that the US still aspires to be a global leader and needs to readjust its priorities accordingly, Angela Merkel has warned.
“We grew up in the certain knowledge that the United States wanted to be a world power,” the German chancellor said in an interview with a group of six European newspapers, including the Guardian.
“Should the US now wish to withdraw from that role of its own free will, we would have to reflect on that very deeply.”
Merkel, the first German leader to have grown up on the eastern side of the iron curtain, has in the past frequently spoken of her admiration for the US’s global influence. When she spoke in front of Congress in 2009, Merkel rhapsodised about the “incredible gift of freedom” bestowed on eastern Germans with the US-supported toppling of the Berlin Wall.
But even during Barack Obama’s presidency Merkel saw her government repeatedly chided for its low military spending – criticism that intensified under Donald Trump, who recently confirmed plans to withdraw 9,500 American troops from bases in Germany.
Full Article by Philip Oltermann @ The Guardian
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