Christoph Bertram
Christoph Bertram was formerly director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin.
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2007-08-03
| Never since the US became the world’s predominant power during World War II has there been a decline in its international influence that compares with what we have witnessed under the Bush administration. Unfortunately, reestablishing trust among America’s traditional friends and respect among its rivals and opponents will require much more than a new face and accommodating rhetoric.... read |
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2007-03-23
| Insisting on Iran's halt to all uranium enrichment is a flawed strategy that merely underpins further escalation of the standoff with the West. With military action unlikely to remove the threat of nuclear proliferation, the six governments negotiating with Iran should change course, offering to allow uranium enrichment in exchange for intrusive international verification inspections.... read |
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2006-07-31
| The current discussion surrounding an international force for southern Lebanon has focused almost exclusively on which countries and organizations – NATO, the European Union, the United Nations – will provide the troops. This is an important issue, to be sure, but the real question concerns the changes that Israel must undertake in exchange for this force being put in place and assuming the risk of such a mission. ... read |
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2005-10-26
| It almost seems as if Japan is bent on self-isolation in Asia. After a few months during which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ostensibly sought to improve his country’s relations with China, his fifth visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine has again raised tempers. China and South Korea both cancelled meetings of their foreign ministers with their Japanese counterpart. Once again, Japan has missed a chance to rebuild trust in a part of the world where, in the absence of cooperative international institutions, trust is all there is.... read |
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2005-09-18
| At long last, Angela Merkel is Germany’s new – and first woman – Chancellor. Although continuity will remain the hallmark of foreign policy, Germany’s international engagement under Merkel will sound and feel different from that under Gerhard Schroeder’s leadership.... read |
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2005-02-14
| On February 23, a day after addressing America’s allies in Brussels, President George W. Bush will meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the old city of Mainz on the Rhine. After the falling-out over Bush’s Iraq adventure, the two countries – so central to the transatlantic relationship in the past – are once again on speaking terms. ... read |
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2004-07-23
| Whoever thought that NATO - that most successful expression of transatlantic solidarity - had found new cohesion after the divisive Iraq crisis should visit the alliance's headquarters. True, the Istanbul summit in late June produced a veneer of harmony, and NATO headquarters is, as usual, busying itself with frequent meetings of now 26 national delegations, innumerable committees, and the mountains of printed paper it churns out. Something essential, however, is missing: NATO's spirit. Many, if not most, of the members no longer recognize NATO as central to their national interest. ... read |
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2004-06-01
| Next week, President Bush, President Chirac, and Chancellor Schroeder will meet on the cliffs of Normandy to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasions that led to the liberation of Europe. They should also seize the moment to liberate themselves from the bitterness that has divided the Atlantic Alliance over the Iraq War, argue Pierre Lellouche and Christoph Bertram. ... read |
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2004-03-04
| Travelling from Berlin to Riga, Latvia's capital, is an eye-opener, because you get to see much of what is going wrong in European integration nowadays, just months before a further 10 states join the European Union, bringing it up to 25 from the original 6. ... read |
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The European Union's Battle for Turkey
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Christoph Bertram 
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When the plotters behind the recent suicide attacks in Istanbul launched their human bombs against Jewish synagogues and British office buildings, they had several audiences in mind. One audience--and potentially the most important--are the citizens of the European Union, which Turkey's political class is eager to join as soon as possible. ... read
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2005-10-26
| It almost seems as if Japan is bent on self-isolation in Asia. After a few months during which Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ostensibly sought to improve his country’s relations with China, his fifth visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine has again raised tempers. China and South Korea both cancelled meetings of their foreign ministers with their Japanese counterpart. Once again, Japan has missed a chance to rebuild trust in a part of the world where, in the absence of cooperative international institutions, trust is all there is.... read |
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2005-09-18
| At long last, Angela Merkel is Germany’s new – and first woman – Chancellor. Although continuity will remain the hallmark of foreign policy, Germany’s international engagement under Merkel will sound and feel different from that under Gerhard Schroeder’s leadership.... read |
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2007-03-23
| Insisting on Iran's halt to all uranium enrichment is a flawed strategy that merely underpins further escalation of the standoff with the West. With military action unlikely to remove the threat of nuclear proliferation, the six governments negotiating with Iran should change course, offering to allow uranium enrichment in exchange for intrusive international verification inspections.... read |
-
2004-06-01
| Next week, President Bush, President Chirac, and Chancellor Schroeder will meet on the cliffs of Normandy to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasions that led to the liberation of Europe. They should also seize the moment to liberate themselves from the bitterness that has divided the Atlantic Alliance over the Iraq War, argue Pierre Lellouche and Christoph Bertram. ... read |
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2005-02-14
| On February 23, a day after addressing America’s allies in Brussels, President George W. Bush will meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the old city of Mainz on the Rhine. After the falling-out over Bush’s Iraq adventure, the two countries – so central to the transatlantic relationship in the past – are once again on speaking terms. ... read |
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2006-07-31
| The current discussion surrounding an international force for southern Lebanon has focused almost exclusively on which countries and organizations – NATO, the European Union, the United Nations – will provide the troops. This is an important issue, to be sure, but the real question concerns the changes that Israel must undertake in exchange for this force being put in place and assuming the risk of such a mission. ... read |
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2004-07-23
| Whoever thought that NATO - that most successful expression of transatlantic solidarity - had found new cohesion after the divisive Iraq crisis should visit the alliance's headquarters. True, the Istanbul summit in late June produced a veneer of harmony, and NATO headquarters is, as usual, busying itself with frequent meetings of now 26 national delegations, innumerable committees, and the mountains of printed paper it churns out. Something essential, however, is missing: NATO's spirit. Many, if not most, of the members no longer recognize NATO as central to their national interest. ... read |
-
2004-03-04
| Travelling from Berlin to Riga, Latvia's capital, is an eye-opener, because you get to see much of what is going wrong in European integration nowadays, just months before a further 10 states join the European Union, bringing it up to 25 from the original 6. ... read |
-
2007-08-03
| Never since the US became the world’s predominant power during World War II has there been a decline in its international influence that compares with what we have witnessed under the Bush administration. Unfortunately, reestablishing trust among America’s traditional friends and respect among its rivals and opponents will require much more than a new face and accommodating rhetoric.... read |
