Vol. 20 ˇ No. 3 ˇ Issue 64 ˇ Fall 2002

Elliot Neaman

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Abstract

In contrast to the political discussions outside of Germany-whether in the west or in the Islamic world-about the war in Afghanistan, the debates in Germany are not only specifically German, but are exclusively determined by domestic politics. One has the impression that the war took place in the middle of Germany. This has to do not only with the subject under discussion, but also with the political culture of this country, which is negatively influenced by political taboos.

- Bassam Tibi, Syrian born professor of politics in Göttingen and Harvard.[1]

The epigraph seems to border on hyperbole: were the debates in the fall of 2001 really "exclusively" subsumed by domestic politics? But Bassam Tibi, one of the hundreds of experts who made the rounds on the endless talk shows and conferences in Germany, may be on to something. In a recent book about how the public intellectuals, religious leaders, and celebrities reacted to the terror attacks of September 11th, Der Spiegel essayist Hendryk Broder made a similar point as he aimed his bittersweet satirical wit at the navel-gazing, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy of Germany's public intellectuals.[2] Broder's book is a self-conscious example of that timeless German genre, the Streitschrift, an erudite polemic in the service of both noble edification and less high-minded settling of scores with one's intellectual opponents. Although exaggerated, one-sided, and terribly funny, Broder's analysis of the German public discourse of the fall of 2001 does contain some serious arguments that anyone interested in the European perception of America cannot ignore. In this essay, I will sketch the contours of that reaction by focusing first on the kinds of issues that preoccupied German intellectuals in the wake of the attacks of September 11th; second, I will contrast that reaction to how ordinary Germans and government officials perceived those events; third, I will explore the role that anti-Americanism played in the intellectual debates of fall 2001; and finally, I will reflect on the significance of September 11th for German society in general.