Germany’s foreign minister called for greater cooperation across the Atlantic to resolve global crises in a speech Tuesday at the George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium.
In an introduction, Board of Trustees Chair Nelson Carbonell said Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the highest-ranking German official ever to speak at GW.
“We are honored to have Mr. Steinmeier here today for what is his only university appearance during his trip to the United States,” said Mr. Carbonell. German Ambassador to the United States Peter Wittig also attended the address.
The German foreign minister was one of two high-ranking officials from foreign countries brought to GW on the same day by the Elliott School of International Affairs. The second was the transitional president of the Central African Republic.
When you talk about foreign policy, Mr. Steinmeier said in his remarks, you need to start with domestic politics.
“In Germany and in Europe, something is gaining momentum in our domestic politics—and to be honest, I am also seeing it here in the United States during the primary campaigns,” said Mr. Steinmeier. “It’s the politics of fear.”
Politicians “pretend that we can seal ourselves off and leave the world outside to deal with its own problems,” he said. “But that’s wrong. The world you live in is much too interconnected.
“So if you ask me, building walls is a very bad idea—no matter who pays for them,” said Mr. Steinmeier.
Above all, foreign policy requires perseverance, because there are rarely fast and easy solutions, he said, citing as an example the Iran nuclear agreement, which was 12 years in the making.
“The United States cannot solve the world’s problems alone, and neither can the world solve them without the U.S.,” he said. “We need to cooperate, and we have cooperated for seven decades. In doing so, we have built the strongest alliance that either of us has ever had: the transatlantic alliance.”
A country’s true strength, Mr. Steinmeier said, should be measured by its willingness and ability to respond to crises beyond its own borders.
“We have every reason to be confident in our ability to change the world for the better,” he said.