Politics, the Transatlantic Relationship and Fathers' Rights

Rachel Casey - Blog Entry III 

                Today was our first full day in Berlin. Yesterday was a long busy day of travel so today, while filled with meetings, was a nice change of pace. It was nice to begin our day with a bus tour of Berlin. I would have liked to do a walking tour, but Berlin is far too large, plus it was nice to have a day off my feet.

We ended our tour of the city at the Akademie der Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung where we had our first meeting, which was a lunch dialogue with Thomas Habicht. I enjoyed having a discussion with a journalist. Talking to politicians can be informative, but I feel like their answers can sometimes be a little broad. This is why the discussion with Habicht was refreshing. I believe journalists are after truths, instead of things which back up their own political agenda. We discussed the current political situation in Germany which included points on energy, NATO issues, issues between Berlin and Washington, the demographic problems of Germany and the problems encountered while reuniting Germany.

I enjoyed that he discussed the differences in personality between Obama and Merkel, and not just their policies. I most enjoyed his historical discussion on the reunification of Germany and the mental and political gaps that they have had to face. He pointed out that West Germany never thought of itself as something that needed to change, but only made a list of demands for those areas under former Soviet control to change. He said in the minds of many there was only a one way road for reconstruction and that that road was something that may have hindered the process.

Following this meeting we had a meeting with Parliament member Peter Beyer at the Bundestag. While waiting to enter the building we encountered a protesting man and decided to ask him about his cause. He said he was fighting for fathers’ rights in Germany and that he had two children he was only allowed to see once every two weeks. I did some research later that evening and as it turns out fathers’ rights are extremely limited in Germany. I learned that a child can only be German if the mother is German.

The meeting with Beyer was interesting and we discussed the trans-Atlantic relationship between Germany and the U.S. It seems to Beyer that there seem to be signals from Obama which point at a desire to strengthen U.S. and German ties. After the meeting we got to visit the Kuppel which gave us a panoramic view of the city of Berlin. We finished the day with dinner at Lindenbrau which was kindly paid for by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung foundation.