ABSTRACT
The identity of a new and united Germany is far more difficult to manage than that of West Germany. For many Germans, the collapse of the Wall was a defining moment. It established the legitimacy of the German nation as a revolutionary people, one that had overcome adversity and had achieved its own freedom in peace. For the United States, its new identity will also present an impossible combination. For Americans believe that they have protected and nurtured the freedom of Germany and half the world for almost half a century, and they believe that others should be grateful for what America has done. Germany is less dependent, more self-confident, stronger, richer, and more respected. It has found in the new and wider Europe a place to concentrate its energies. America is more ambivalent, less ready to make new commitments, more anxious to remain at home and yet, perhaps paradoxically, still global in its interests and concerns.
