THE GERMAN ALLY

Ukraine's allies gathered in Germany to consider additional support for Ukraine. The meeting went well if one chooses to forego the German decision not to agree with the delivery of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. President Zelensky begged for these tanks but the German chancellor remained tone-deaf. He is supposedly worried that German tanks so close to the Russian border might recall World War II bad memories. This type of Angst might fit German anxiety but it is suspect given recent past situations where the Germans almost implored for measurable close American support.

Germany has a long hate/love relationship with Russia: Brest Litovsk, Rapallo, the non-aggression pact Hitler/Stalin, the Ost politik, Gerhard Schroder, Angela Merkel.  There is something like a perverse attraction between these countries, maybe because they both score low in the popularity rate.

The American Secretary of Defense Lloyd J.Austin III tried to blur the bad mood but Germany's partners remain worried. The  Ukrainians are understandably unhappy.  Germany's Chancellor Scholz often gives the impression of letting his thinking be hostage to his size:  small. 

NATO doesn't need another flash point or hardly-contained resentment. Germany has entered the flock of EU weak governments at an inauspicious time, when the United States will be entering their periodic presidential election drama. The EU, left to its own devices, might choose to behave yet again as children fighting over a rattle.