This article is premium content. In order to gain access to it please either Log in, Activate your complimentary web account if you are a print subscriber, or Subscribe now
German-American relations
Ahead of the Bush-Merkel summit
Jul 6th 2006
From The Economist print edition
DESERTED streets, drains welded shut, fighters patrolling the sky. Germans still recall vividly George Bush's meeting with Gerhard Schröder in Mainz in February 2005. What got lost amid the security was the message the American president had hoped to send. For Mainz was where his father had in 1989 offered Germany a “partnership in leadership”.
Next week Mr Bush visits Germany again, en route to the G8 summit in St Petersburg. He will go to Stralsund, a medieval town on Mecklenburg-West Pomerania's Baltic coast. On July 13th, after greeting the mayor and visiting a church, he will meet a hand-picked crowd in the marketplace (anti-Bush rallies will be held at a safe distance). Later he will enjoy a barbecue in Trinwillershagen, a model village often visited by communist dignitaries. The aim is to show that German-American relations are back on track—thanks to a new chancellor, Angela Merkel. …
If you hold unused Pay Per View credits, or you already have an active subscription, please log in to view the article:
