Germany's Russia lobby includes industrial and political influence groups of considerable power, a faction of the Social Democratic party, and anti-European Union activists of the far left and right. They successfully encourage the notion that the West, America in particular, has humiliated Russia to the point of being responsible for Vladimir Putin's actions on Ukraine—and, above all, that confronting Russia on virtually any issue is catastrophic for German business.
But the wider context for the German government involves postwar national guilt, and centuries of a both romantic and ruthless vision of Russia as a nearby Amazonia. It represents enormous potential German wealth, coupled with a German notion of Russia's need for German guidance. In the Germany of Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, all of these habits get masterfully massaged by the Russians.
Last week, I asked a high-level European security official to evaluate Germany's position on Ukraine. He said, "I don't see the positive effect of all these phone calls by [Mrs.] Merkel to Putin. As for [Mr.] Steinmeier, there have been instances at international discussions where he seems to be pitching for the other side.''
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