World News and Trends: Germany's new wave of anti-Americanism
Although German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder recently met with President George W. Bush and duly extended an olive branch, he first unleashed Germany's latent anti-Americanism when his position in government was seriously threatened before a national election.
The disturbing factor is, however, not so much the politics of Herr Schroeder as it is much of the population's distorted view of America.
Normally conspiracy theories remain in the realm of fringe minorities. Nonetheless, the popular "Column One" feature in The Wall Street Journal Europe recently reported: "In Germany, however, the [conspiracy] theories have legs, and over the past few months, wave after wave of improbable and outrageous assertions have received serious hearings. A recent public-opinion poll by Forsa, one of Germany's major polling organisations, found that every fifth German believes that 'the U.S. government ordered the [9/11] attacks itself'" (Sept. 29, emphasis added throughout).
One wonders if the effects in Germany of seeing conspiracy-theme, fictional movies made in America somehow play a role in this badly misguided thinking.
Many in Germany apparently "further believe that the American government is in turn controlled by a Jewish world conspiracy and that Mossad [Israel's CIA] is behind the suicide bombers in Israel" (The Spectator, Sept. 13).
Bear in mind that these trends are not being reported by sleazy and sensational tabloids, but by veteran journalists on the scene in Berlin for highly respected newspapers and magazines. The Spectator in particular has made it clear that "a venomous stream of anti-American and anti-Semitic resentment has burst forth in Germany during the Iraqi crisis."
To its credit the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel has recently contributed 16 pages of a recent issue to debunking these preposterous conspiracy theories. Also, Germany and America recently pledged to cooperate in rebuilding Iraq. But as The Wall Street Journal Europe related in its feature column, "Lurking beneath the diplomatic bonhomie [or friendliness] is a suspicion that the U.S. is no longer the indispensable diplomatic partner it has been for the past half century."
Where will this disturbing trend ultimately lead? The Spectator article proposed an ominous conclusion: "The German opinion polls show rapidly increasing support for the idea of a European superpower to act as a check on American ambitions. 70 per cent of Germans now favour that idea, compared with only 48 per cent a year ago."
As late as March 30 of this year, Walter Russell Mead, a longtime American writer and commentator on international affairs, wrote: "U.S.-German relations remain today what they have been for 50 years—the cornerstone of the Western Alliance. Fix that relationship and the rest falls into place. Neglect it and the battle of Europe gets worse" (Los Angeles Times).
You need to understand the vital long-term, biblical significance of crucial events now occurring in Central Europe. Those who would like to know more should write for our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: The Los Angeles Times, The Spectator, The Wall Street Journal Europe.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: November - December 2003
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
