Allowedly, our minster of defence Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg (correct birth name: Karl Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg) is one of our most favoured German politicians in German history.
And the latest incidents concerning the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) cannot damage his good reputation, as well. More than two-thirds of the German population adheres to his minister of defence. Therefore his reputation is even better than Chancellor Angela Merkel’s prestige. The reason why zu Guttenberg has such a positive appearance in Germany is that he is a politician who enjoys recognition even in the opposition which means that he doesn’t polarize. And just because of that, it is absolutely not facile to harm his excellent reputation. But after the release of the American cables, it is interesting to see how does the American embassy consider him?
Honestly, it isn’t astonishing that our minister of defence has an analogical reputation. The Americans consider him as a white hope who has excellent abilities with regard to foreign affairs. Moreover he has a close and intensive relationship with the American embassy. American ambassador Murphy confirmed this impression, because he mentioned that zu Guttenberg regularly met the American embassy in order to inform them about current foreign issues. In this context, Murphy said that they have a familiar and honest relationship, when they talked about political issues. But the American cables also revealed that he criticized foreign minister Guido Westerwelle (see: How American diplomatic agents consider German politicians, part II) and Chancellor Angela Merkel in December 2008 because she wasn’t tough enough to enforce economic laws which should combat the consequences of the economic crisis.
In my opinion, it was clear that zu Guttenberg has an excellent reputation in the United States, as well. Clearly, this isn’t something new for us, because zu Guttenberg had maintained a intensive contact to the United States, before he became minister of defence. But I didn’t know that he criticized several decisions of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and especially Guido Westerwelle behind his back so that zu Guttenberg only talked about these aspects with ambassador Murphy who had recorded every conversation and sent these documents to Washington.
Nevertheless, zu Guttenberg is doubtlessly a figurehead for Germany, because he really does a great job in the Federal Government. And furthermore, I am absolutely sure that all German citizens forgive him these little blasphemies. Written by Leaker1
Sources:
http://www.zeit.de/online/2009/31/merkel-guttenberg-politbarometer
Written by Leaker1
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