German-American Relations - A Success Story To Be Continued
German-American Day 2006
Deputy Chief of Mission John M. Koenig

Ansbach
October 6, 2006
As prepared for delivery.

Lord Mayor Felber, thank you for the warm welcome to the city of Ansbach. Ansbach and the surrounding region have strong and historic ties to America. This is a very fitting place to celebrate German-American Day.

I bring the greetings and best wishes of Ambassador Timken. I arrived in Berlin last month. The opportunity to meet you and learn more about your activities and plans for the future is a perfect start for my job here in Germany.

Norman, it is a special pleasure to share this day with you. I would also like to recognize Roberto and Katja Eichinger, and Manfred Dudeck, and all the members of the German-American Society of Middle West Franconia. You are building on our strong partnership, defining the common points of interest that will shape the 21st century. We need the commitment and initiative of people of your generation. I am very pleased that the Consulate was involved in the founding of the German-American Society of Middle West Franconia last December, and I can assure you that, under new Consul General Eric Nelson, you will have our continued support.

As a diplomat, I myself have been involved in various aspects of transatlantic relations during the course of my career. Over the years, I have learned that transatlantic relations are not just about governments talking to each other. Strong people-to-people connections are at the foundation of transatlantic partnership. The commitment and initiative of the members of the German-American clubs around the country have been instrumental in building a strong network of people and organizations. Most important, the clubs have built bridges to the future, particularly through your exchange programs. But this is something I learned well before I joined the State Department. I was an exchange student twice in Germany – an Austauschschueler at the Gymnasium in Mayen near Koblenz in high school, and a Germanistik student in Cologne for several months in university. Those experiences changed my life. It is important that coming generations participate in similar programs and build relationships for the future.

The major goal of every employee at the Embassy and each one of our five Consulates is to build on and improve the bilateral relationship between our two great nations. That relationship includes the many Americans and Germans who work and live at the US military facilities in Ansbach, Katterbach and Illesheim. It includes all those who make Bavaria's oldest sister city partnership – between Frankenmuth, Michigan and Gunzenhausen, near Ansbach – also one of its most dynamic. It includes the business community and the hundreds of thousands of employees, German and American, of companies on both sides of the Atlantic -- from interns up to the CEO. Research and educational institutions on both sides of the Atlantic also play an important role. The scientists on both sides of the Atlantic who provide the new technology that feeds innovation work together closely. Thousands of German and American students take part in exchanges each year. They are essential to the future of our partnership. For that reason, we are looking for ways to extend the range and benefits of exchange programs.

As active participants, we all must work together in a spirit of cooperation, developing multiple points of positive connection between people to ensure that we not lose sight of our common goals. We will not always be able to move in lockstep but we cannot allow problems to divide us. It is important that we use our combined strengths -- and our diversity -- to address the challenges of the 21st century.

The leadership meeting that the German-American Society of Middle West Franconia organized in July for entrepreneurs of the region is a good example of an initiative to find common ground. That is the spirit we need.

This afternoon I visited the Diakonie Neuendettelsau. I learned about the organization’s history and its special connections to America that go back to the 1840s. I also learned about the range of its activities in education, health and social welfare, and was particularly intrigued by the plans for the first private university in Bavaria. There will be a strong transatlantic orientation. That too is the spirit we need.

It is the spirit of the German-American partnership that we celebrate every year on October 6.

German Americans have been part of America's history since its earliest days, beginning with the establishment of the Jamestown Colony in 1607. German-American Day celebrates the arrival of 13 Mennonite families on October 6, 1683. Led by Franz Daniel Pastorius, these immigrants settled in Pennsylvania and founded Germantown near the city of Philadelphia. Many of the early settlers came to America seeking religious freedom and the chance to develop a community based on tolerance and respect. Later on in the 1800s, during the westward expansion of the United States, many German families helped settle communities, found cities, and develop industry. Over time, the core beliefs of these freedom-loving individuals helped define the liberty and opportunity that our country represents and inspire others to reach for the American Dream.

Over a quarter of Americans trace their ancestry back to German roots. Few people have blended so completely into the multicultural tapestry of American society and yet have made such singular economic, political, social, scientific, and cultural contributions to the growth and success of the United States as have Americans of German extraction.

On German-American Day, we honor their contributions. We also honor, however, the important friendship between the United States and Germany. We contribute to each other's trade, enjoy each other's cultures, and learn from each other's experiences. The ties that we celebrate today are not only those born of kinship but also those based on common values and aspirations. The same love of liberty that led the first German immigrants to America continues to animate U.S.-German relations.

When President Reagan announced the first German-American Day in 1987, Germany was a divided country. I experienced that division personally during the two years I served at the American Embassy in East Berlin from 1985 to 1987. Germany’s division was obviously unnatural, a product of the Cold War. Despite more than a decade of détente and pregnant developments like Solidarity in Poland and perestroika and glasnost in the Soviet Union, few of us could foresee the wonderful changes that were approaching.

Today, 16 years after reunification, we celebrate another proud anniversary in October. All those who consider themselves stakeholders in the transatlantic relationship will never forget the great promise of October 3, 1990. Once divided by physical and psychological barriers, the Federal Republic of Germany has emerged as a symbol of freedom over tyranny.

The accomplishments of the transatlantic alliance in the period since the World War II far exceeded what even optimists could have hoped for in the late 1940s. There are few alliances that have yielded such benefits for their members or for the broader international community. The postwar German-American partnership itself is said to be the greatest diplomatic success story in modern history. It was the keystone to the remarkable changes that led to the building of a Europe, whole, free and at peace. That achievement would not have been possible without the Atlantic Alliance and its manifestations -- NATO, American troops in Europe, the Marshall Plan, the U.N., and other international institutions.

Those proud accomplishments mark our course for the 21st century. The hard-won knowledge that freedom, security, and prosperity within the Euro-Atlantic community depend on their extension throughout the world drive our mutual commitment to promote democracy and freedom, bring peace to troubled regions, and foster global prosperity.

As in any long-term partnership, Europe and the United States have occasional differences, but these are secondary compared to the values and common interests that bind us.

In fact, I believe that, never before, have Europe and the United States worked together so effectively on such a complex range of global issues. Theories of transatlantic divergence dissolve before the reality of our close policy cooperation. We are looking forward to intensifying our transatlantic cooperation in the new year during Germany’s presidencies of the G-8 and EU.

Every day, we work with European partners to strengthen our anti-terrorist efforts and jointly to help other states improve their counter-terrorist abilities. We saw proof of the crucial advances that have been made when terrorist plots were exposed in both England and here in Germany.

Many of our strongest multilateral partnerships are with European organizations, such as the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization remains our principal security alliance. At the start of 1994, NATO was a military alliance of 16 countries, oriented toward countering the Soviet Union. It had never conducted a military operation.

By 2004, NATO had 26 members and 31 partnerships across Eurasia, the Mediterranean, and the Persian Gulf. It was engaged in eight simultaneous military operations, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, performing tasks ranging from humanitarian assistance to stability operations. NATO is an alliance in action.

NATO is redefining itself in a world where the challenges come not only from states but also from non-state actors such as terrorist networks.

Asymmetrical threats, such as the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 in the U.S., on March 11 in Madrid, and July 7 in London, but also the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction now command our attention.

We are cooperating on all the major crises in the Middle East. We welcome the decision made by European nations to take rapid action to deploy the United Nations Interim Force of Lebanon.

We are also working very closely on the issue of Iran. The international community came together to give Iran the opportunity to make a genuine commitment to suspend all enrichment-related reprocessing activities and fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The positive choice would have led to many political and economic benefits for the Iranian people, and greater security for the Iranian people, the region and the world. The United States joined with our international partners in direct talks with Iran. The offer on the part of the United States to participate in direct talks underscored the U.S. commitment to a diplomatic solution. It removed Iran's last excuse.

Europe and the United States support the new democratically elected government of Iraq and its efforts to bring security, prosperity, and lasting democracy to the Iraqi people. In 2003 we were divided because we disagreed over whether or not to go to war. That was an honest disagreement. In 2006 and 2007 I don’t see any dramatic U.S.–European divergence on what our strategic goals should be. We all want to support stability and democracy in Iraq and development and we want to see Iraq produce a foreign policy that is consistent with stability in the wider Middle East region. Success in Iraq is our common interest, and will set the stage for the advance of freedom in the heart of the Middle East.

I am going to stop now but I think I have made my point that never before have Europe and the United States worked so closely and so effectively.

The most recent results of German Marshall Fund’s annual public opinion survey on transatlantic trends confirmed that Europeans and Americans continue to see the world in very similar ways. Both Americans and Europeans share concern over global threats in a way that overrides short-term, partisan political judgments. This provides a very solid basis on which to work together in a partnership that is strong enough to stand the tests of the 21st century.

This year’s White House proclamation for German-American Day sums it up, and I quote: "German-American Day is an opportunity to recognize the friendship between Germany and the United States. By working together as partners in peace with a mutual commitment to liberty, the United States and Germany can lay the foundation for a more hopeful tomorrow."

Again, thank you all for your commitment. Your contributions as individuals are very important.