The Dawning of a New Germany - by Brad Macdonald
With the World Cup in progress, Germany has captured the world’s attention. The tournament will end, but here is why you should keep your eyes glued to this nation. The cumulative viewership of this year’s World Cup is estimated to be 32 billion people. That is an average of every man, woman and child on Earth watching roughly five of its soccer matches. As the host nation, Germany has the world eating from the palm of its hand. The publicity value to this “reformed and democratized” Germany is priceless. For an entire month, Germany is the center of attention.
The World Cup will pass, but we must not turn our attention from Germany. Earth-shattering changes are taking place in this nation. Germany is moving into its new, and final, glory days; the World Cup is simply the beginning. Time will prove the significance of the trends emerging in the Fatherland.In January 2007, Germany, under Merkel’s stewardship, will assume the EU presidency.
On May 11 this year, in her first speech on European policy to the Bundestag (Germany’s parliament) since becoming chancellor, Merkel talked about a vision for Europe. She confirmed her unconditional support for the troubled EU constitution: “We absolutely need the constitution to ensure the European Union is effective and capable of action. … We must reflect how we can bring the constitution project to a successful conclusion” (ibid.). The EU Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, has asked that no decision be made on the constitution until 2008, but for the German government, it is not a question of if the constitution will take effect, but how it will be done. Merkel said it is simply a matter of “finding the correct time to act.”
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