DIANA JOHNSTONE: The Specter of Germany Is Rising
DIANA JOHNSTONE: The Specter of Germany Is Rising September 12, 2022 To meet the imaginary Russian threat to Western Europe, Germany will lead an expanded, militarized EU. Olaf Scholz, federal chancellor of Germany, meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, in Kiev, Feb. 14, 2022. (President of Ukraine) By Diana Johnstone in Paris Special to Consortium News T he European Union is girding for a long war against Russia that appears clearly contrary to European economic interests and social stability. A war that is apparently irrational – as many are – has deep emotional roots and claims ideological justification. Such wars are hard to end because they extend outside the range of rationality. For decades after the Soviet Union entered Berlin and decisively defeated the Third Reich, Soviet leaders worried about the threat of “German revanchism.” Since World War II could be seen as German revenge for being deprived of victory in World War I, couldn’t aggressive German Drang nach