Word: kohl
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Lately, just about everything the Germans do seems to cause annoyance. When Kohl urged that German be elevated to the status of a working language in the E.C., alongside English and French, a senior British diplomat sniffed, "It was a bit presumptuous of them to demand everything at once." Countered Kohl, who speaks neither English nor French: "Whether one likes to hear it or not, it ((German)) is now the most widely spoken language in the E.C." While that may be a slight exaggeration, what the Germans call their Sprachraum (linguistic space) does include more than 100 million people...
...German inclination is to savor success without dwelling on the past. Kohl, whose physical bulk and blunt manner seem to personify the big new Germany, called the Yugoslavia decision "a success for German foreign policy." Genscher flatly said, "We were right!" For their part, Germans feel frustrated when they are criticized for doing things that would seem benign if done by virtually any other country. It is time, say many Germans, to reap the benefits of 45 years of good conduct. What they want is responsibility commensurate with duty. "When it comes to paying, everybody says, 'Germans to the front...
...asserting its power is not the same as welcoming it. French political leaders are concerned that their entire postwar policy, which adroitly cultivated a Bonn-Paris axis that magnified French power by combining with Germany's, may be coming unstuck. Germans firmly deny any intention to dominate Europe: Kohl's slogan is "A European Germany, Not a German Europe." But they are no longer willing to be subordinate within it. "The days when the French could count on our subservience are over," says a senior German diplomat. "And that applies to others...
This sort of speculation is as troubling to Germans as it is to their neighbors. So far, there is no consensus in the country on the use of German soldiers anywhere outside the territory of NATO, but the Kohl government has proposed a constitutional amendment to permit participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations. Some conservative political leaders believe German troops should also be available for such joint contingents as the U.S.-led coalition that fought the gulf...
...anti-Iraq coalition may have helped produce Bonn's recent burst of assertive energy. The term gulf syndrome is applied to German leaders who, stung by criticism of their early reluctance to support Desert Storm, are determined never again to be thought timid. There is even some concern that Kohl is going too far in that direction. "Except for Hitler you have to go back a long way to find a German head of government who speaks so provocatively and insensitively about the outside world," says Heinrich Jaenecke, a columnist for the weekly Stern. "Hubris has led this nation astray...