Germany’s Response to the Ukraine Crisis | Ambassador John Kornblum | Video / Transcript / Podcast

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The Tennessee World Affairs Council

When President Joe Biden met the press on January 19th he was candid when addressing consequences for Russia if it attacked Ukraine. “It depends on what [Putin] does as to what extent we’re going to be able to get total unity on the NATO front.” The White House quickly cleaned up what he “meant” to say. In the days since official statements continue to stress NATO solidarity but questions remain.

For example British aircraft carrying weapons to Ukraine flew “around” Germany sparking media questions about Berlin being onboard for support to Kiev, despite Defense Ministry denials it restricted the flights. That was followed by the resignation of Germany’s Navy chief over controversial remarks about the threat to Ukraine. Writing for the Center for European Policy Analysis, Oxana Schmies spoke of “Germany’s paralyzing fear of war,” and warned that for the new government it was “worryingly clear that forging a united Russia policy is difficult and marred by underlying disagreement. [Link]

As the prospects of Russian provocation and action against Ukraine reach the boiling point it’s a fair question to ask where Germany “is,” as the United States and allies lean forward in deterrence and preparation for response.

To address this question we turn to Ambassador John Kornblum, preeminent authority on America’s relationship with Europe, and Germany in particular. 

Ambassador John C. Kornblum has a long record of service in the United States and Europe both as a diplomat and as a businessman. He is recognized as an eminent expert on U.S.-European political and economic relations, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he occupied a number of high-level diplomatic posts, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs, Special Envoy for the Dayton Peace Process, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Process), Deputy U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and U.S. minister and deputy commandant of forces in divided Berlin. 

The conversation will be guided by the President of the American Council on Germany, Steven Sokol.

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You can view Ambassador Kornblum’s January 17th TNWAC conversation about the Ukraine crisis on our YouTube channel and you can read the transcript.

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Ambassador John C. Kornblum has a long record of service in the United States and Europe both as a diplomat and as a businessman. He is recognized as an eminent expert on U.S.-European political and economic relations, in particular in Central and Eastern Europe. He served as the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001. Before that, he occupied a number of high-level diplomatic posts, including U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European affairs, Special Envoy for the Dayton Peace Process, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Process), Deputy U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and U.S. minister and deputy commandant of forces in divided Berlin. From 2001 to 2009, he was chairman of Lazard Freres Germany. He currently serves as senior counsellor to the international law firm Noerr LLP and as a senior adviser to the worldwide consultancy Accenture. Mr. Kornblum has also served on a number of supervisory and advisory boards including those of Thyssen-Krupp, Technologies AG, Bayer AG, Russell Reynolds, and Motorola Europe. He is a member of the boards of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany, the American Academy in Berlin, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and of numerous nonprofit organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University in 1964, and he has been the recipient of many awards, including a Knights Cross of the Order of Merit from Germany and an Order of Merit from Austria.

Dr. Liana Fix is a Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Washington office, while on sabbatical from the International Affairs Department of the Körber Foundation in Berlin. She is a political scientist and historian, and her work focuses on Russia and Eastern Europe, European security, arms control, and German foreign policy. She will be focusing on transatlantic policy toward Russia while at GMF. Dr. Fix has published widely in academia, thinktanks, and national and international media. She holds a doctorate degree from the Justus Liebig University Giessen and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Steven E. Sokol is the President of the American Council on Germany. Previously, he served as President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh and prior to that he was the Vice President and Director of Programs at the American Council on Germany. Earlier in his career, Steve served as the Deputy Director of the Aspen Institute Berlin, was the Head of the Project Management Department at the Bonn International Center for Conversion GmbH (BICC), and a Program Officer in the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He holds a Doctorate in Law and Policy from Northeastern University as well as an M.A. in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. He has also studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Freie Universität in Berlin.