The NSA: the impact of the wiretapping scandal on German-American relations. OSW Commentary No. 124, 14.01.2014

Edward Snowden revealed that America’s National Security Agency (NSA) had tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone and had collected date en masse. This has caused the largest crisis of confidence in relations between Germany and the US since the Iraq war. Due to the technological advantage which American intelligence services have, Germany wishes to continue close co-operation with the US but is making efforts to change the legal basis of this co-operation dating back to Cold War times. Berlin would like to secure part of provisions similar to the Five Eyes alliance – agreements signed between the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia in the second half of the 1940s, aimed at intelligence sharing and a ban mutual bugging. This could spell the end of the last (not including the military presence) relic of Germany’s dependence on the US which emerged following World War II and took shape in the shadow of the Cold War. The process of Germany’s emancipation in trans-Atlantic relations, which began after Germany’s reunification, would be complete. The US is however opposed to such far-reaching changes as it is interested in continued co-operation with Germany without limiting it. Were it not to sign agreements satisfactory for Berlin, this would lead to a protracted crisis of confidence in German-American relations.

German American Day

German-American Day on Ann Arbor's west side. West Liberty from Main Street with open countryside beyond. John Haarer's Photograph Gallery is at the left. (Source: Old Ann Arbor Town by Hazel Proctor.)

The letters of Heinrich Armin Rattermann to the German-American poet-priest, John E. Rothensteiner;

"A sequel to the biographical monograph on Heinrich Armin Rattermann."--Pref.

German American annals.

Title from caption.

German-American relations : a selective bibliography /

Mode of access: Internet.

American imprints inventory.

Mimeographed; cover printed.

American imprints inventory,

Mode of access: Internet.

The general guide to rare Americana, with auction records and prices; a hand book and guide to the rare and notable books relating to America. With chronological and regional inventories of early printed books in the United States, and a key to American imprints, 1639-1889.

Bibliography: p. 11-13.