Germany’s diplomatic game doesn’t make sense

Amidst the heavy criticism of Germany’s lack of commitment in the Ukraine crisis, the German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock argued in a speech to the German parliament on Thursday that alliance systems were a bit like a football team. ‘You don’t need 11 centre-forwards who all do the same thing; you need 11 players who get on with one another and who, most importantly, have the same game plan in mind.’

In other words, western alliance systems such as Nato should assign different roles and responsibilities to member states that are best suited to their individual strengths and weaknesses – horses for courses, to stay within the sporting imagery. The US and the UK were therefore wrong to demand that Germany step up to the mark by shipping weapons to Ukraine. The fact that the UK and US are in favour of using strong words backed up by shipments of defensive weaponry should not oblige Berlin to do the same.