Successfully Working Together in Polarizing Times
Barack Obama and Angela Merkel
Working with people who are dissimilar in personality and thought can prove perplexing, if not impossible, yet it doesn't mean that successful working partnerships cannot be developed.
“Dear Barack, The Extraordinary Partnership of Barack Obama and Angela Merkel,” is a book written by Claudia Clark that examines how their relationship succeeded, leaving clues for others to consider.
Clark, holding a masters in U.S. history, in writing about President Obama and Chancellor Merkel, said, “... the two learned not only to work with one another but to respect one another – and sincerely like each other.”
The book dives into “how their relationship evolved, transforming them from world leaders skeptical of one another to good friends and close confidants.”
For Obama, working with a woman of Merkel’s stature was not an overwhelming or distasteful task because, as Clark writes, “The husband of a gifted lawyer, son of an academically accomplished mother, and grandson of a respected matriarch – Madelyn Dunham – who passed away just one day before his election, Barack was clearly far from intimidated by bright, educated women, which could also help explain the respect and chemistry between him and Merkel.”
The beginning wasn’t difficult for her either as she wasn’t intimidated or starstruck by Obama. Merkel, if anything, was skeptical of Obama and confident in herself.
“I knew that I had to fight to be seen as an individual….People already had a fixed and predetermined view of who I was; a token woman on the left. All this annoyed me,” Merkel said in general.
Clark detailed how the German chancellor is judicious in disputes and wrote about a comment from legal scholar Guido Calabresio, who said of Merkel, “She doesn’t take on fights she can’t win… There are a couple of examples out there, lying in coffins, of people who got in her way.”
Why is this story about the working relationship between Obama and Merkel important to study and learn about? And what made their partnership extraordinary, as is the book’s assertion?
This book is interesting on several fronts.
To begin with, Obama and Merkel were pioneers. Obama as the first black president of the United States and Merkel as the first woman chancellor of Germany, the youngest chancellor of Germany and the only chancellor of Germany from the former East Germany.
The second noteworthy component about their relationship is that it is that it was the first bond among a U.S. president and a German Chancellor.
Beginning with Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill during World War II and continuing with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s, a strong partnership among U.S. presidents and British Prime Ministers was common.
The relationship between Obama and Merkel was the first time that such a partnership happened between Germany and the United States. The final component about their relationship that was so extraordinary was the fact that it was so unlikely.
On the surface, the two could not appear to be more different—Obama was the charismatic speaker, leader of his country’s center left party, and Merkel was the stoic, low key negotiator who led her country’s center right party.
It is only when one delves into their partnership and their personalities in detail one realizes that despite these differences, the two have more in common than anyone, including them, realize.
You write that Merkel was initially unsure of, or didn't like Obama. How did these two develop sufficient trust and best work together and later develop a friendship?
From the very beginning of Obama’s rise to fame, Merkel found herself in a bind — the upcoming politician was exceedingly popular among the German people. In fact as much as 85% of German citizens indicated they would vote for him if they could, but personally she was extremely apprehensive of Obama and had some serious reservations about him.
She saw all the hype surrounding Obama and she thought that he talked a good talk, but she feared there were little to no actions behind his words.
Hence, Merkel was one of the notable exceptions of people who initially did not cater to Obama ‘s every demand, thereby creating skepticism on Obama’s behalf as well.
Nevertheless, both are notoriously pragmatic and understood that as leaders of allied nations of two of the largest and most powerful countries they needed to learn to work with one another, at least on a professional level.
Through a series of events the two learned not only to work with one another on a professional level, but a partnership that also evolved into a personal friendship as well when they realized they sincerely liked and respected one another as both people and as leaders.
In fact, approximately mid-way through their working relationship Merkel began publicly referring to the U.S. president as “Lieber Barack,” or “Dear Barack.”
As the relationship developed into a friendship, like most relationships experience, this one had rocky times, where Merkel said "The monitoring of friends -- this is unacceptable. It can't be tolerated. We're no longer in the Cold War." How did Merkel and Obama work through that successfully?
The interesting thing about the spying allegations with Merkel was it differed from that of the German people. Merkel, being the pragmatist that she was, was not all that upset about the scandal.
She understood spying was typical among world leaders, and her initial response was bewilderment rather than anger. She thought allies spying on one another was a waste of time and resources, but nothing to be too angry about.
However, the German people were outraged by the scandal, and implored Merkel to take the allegations more seriously, so she responded only after pressure from her people to do something to put an end to the controversy.
When Obama realized just how betrayed the Germans felt by the actions, he realized changes needed to be made, so he and his national security team worked on adopting new policy guidelines for “combating terrorism without infringing on people’s own personal and civil liberties.”
When the policy change alone was not enough to restore the faith in him the German people had held, he went on German television and addressed the people. He apologized and promised it would never happen again as long as he was president.
It took some time, but eventually most of the German people did forgive the president for his actions.
The Germans are pragmatic people and understood the U.S. had been one of the closest allies for many years and such a relationship should not be destroyed over one, albeit one serious, misunderstanding.
While Merkel was not as outraged as her citizens were about this breach in privacy, she was not completely willing to look the other way about it either. She and Obama and their teams had several conversations behind closed doors on how to address the situation and how to move forward.
Through serious diplomatic channels, the two leaders learned to mostly put the scandal behind them, but it still remained in the background of all the encounters they had for the remainder of Obama’s presidency, but their actions proved putting democracy and national security was more important than personal egos.
How successful would you say Obama and Merkel's work together was, and in your analysis, what was a highlight example or top accomplishments, and why?
As I mentioned in an earlier question, Merkel and Obama had gotten off to a rocky start.
Nevertheless, in November 2016 following the presidential election Obama made his final trip to Europe as president and Merkel cried when she said goodbye to Obama for the final time, and similarly, on January 19, 2017—the day before Obama officially left office the final call he made was to Chancellor Merkel.
I think those two examples speak volumes about the strength of the partnership between the two.
When looking at the entirety of their eight-year working relationship, I think the highlight of their relationship was in 2011 when Obama presented Merkel with the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.
As most know, that Medal of Freedom is the highest honor a president can bestow on a civilian, and one that is rarely granted to non-U.S. citizens, so I believe the fact that Obama granted this highly coveted award to Merkel speaks louder than anything else about the amount of respect and admiration he had towards the German Chancellor.
Claudia Clark, author
What have Obama and Merkel modeled, if anything, for other leaders, whether that be world leaders, congress, local leaders and any people in power, when it comes to communicating about difficult issues and negotiating through problems?
Obama and Merkel have demonstrated that it is perfectly normal and acceptable for people to have differing opinions on tough policy issues, and still work together and come up with a workable compromise.
The importance is being able to put differences aside and being able to trust and be honest with one another.
The most notable example of this was with regard to Putin’s 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea. France and Germany were adamantly opposed to engaging militarily against Putin, but Obama was facing increased pressure from Congress to get involved militarily, and Merkel said differences of opinion were acceptable—even expected, but the most important thing is she knew that Obama would be honest with her about he planned and thought and intended to do, even if his actions turned out to be contrary to what she would have done.
In the end, Obama did not cave in to congressional pressure to assist Ukraine, and his actions remained consistent with Merkel and the rest of the European Union.
The takeaway is that they were honest and forthright with one another despite differences of opinions.
What do you personally hope readers, maybe even government officials, will take away from reading this book?
The world has become so globalized with isolationist principles and desire for nations to live on a separate island isolated from the rest of the world it is no longer a pragmatic solution to diplomacy.
Therefore, now more than ever it is imperative for world leaders to be able to work together and trust one another.
I think the most important takeaway from this book and Obama and Merkel’s relationship is that people can find common ground when they work hard enough for it, and the most important component of being an effective leader is putting one’s own ego and self-interest aside for the advancement of democracy.
A brief writeup about the book and Clark can be found here.
