Word: germanized
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Germany gains from never having had colonies in the Mideast and, by shunning long-term investments in the area, West German businessmen continue to avoid the dread label "imperialist." Fury over British policy in Cyprus helped wipe out Gfeek memories of the harsh World War II German occupation, has played a big part in the Greek choice of West Germany as its new economic mentor. In Arab countries, the Suez invasion gave German traders a big edge over the British and French. "And why not?" asks one West German businessman. "We have clean hands...
Germany's own past, clean and otherwise, is put to advantage. As reparations for Nazi atrocities against the Jews, West Germany has paid Israel $460 million, much of it in capital goods, thus committing Israeli industries to German machines, raw materials and spare parts. At the same time, many Arabs think of the Nazis as the first and most successful anti-Israelis. "I'm embarrassed sometimes," says a West German businessman, "when an Arab says 'Heil Hitler!' to me." A less sensitive colleague admits that he prefers his Mideastern salesmen to be men "with good...
...Stop the Nonsense." Having elbowed its own way in, West Germany now finds a newcomer using the same tactics as it did. Soviet-bloc nations are muscling in on the Middle East, particularly in the field of heavy construction, where the West Germans previously had a clear lead. Last December, despite the fact that West German experts were the first to make technical studies of the proposed Aswan High Dam, Nasser's United Arab Republic, in accepting Russian financial help, pledged itself to give Russia exclusively the first five years' construction work. This month Russia grabbed...
...Soviet success in Iraq demonstrates, the Communists often benefit even more than the Germans from Mideastern hatred for the "imperialist powers." Communist states are also prepared to underwrite prestigious but unprofitable deals. In Cairo last summer, when a West German firm desperately sought to win an electrical construction contract away from the East Germans, the East German representative impatiently burst out: "Gentlemen, let's stop this nonsense. I have orders from my home office to undercut any Western price-even if I have to go to practically zero...
Where the West German businessmen must generally charge 8% interest on credits, the Communists frequently charge as little as 2½%. This is not philanthropy: in every such bargain there is a concealed political string. To pay for Communist arms and aid, Egypt's Nasser has mortgaged much of his cotton crop for years ahead. By reselling this cotton at cut prices to Western textile manufacturers (including West Germans), the Communists have driven Egyptian cotton exporters out of much of the European market, have thus deprived Egypt of a major source of foreign exchange and reduced her ability...