Left Flank

Washington should be wary of a family quarrel.

«The Eastern Europeans totally saw this [Russian resurgence] coming,» says former US ambassador to Romania, James Rosapepe. «In Romania the attitude was, we have to get into NATO before Russian power returns.»

German officials and many European NATO officials argue that it is simply unrealistic to provoke Russia by allowing its immediate neighbors into the alliance. They say Russia's actions in Georgia vindicates this point. Berlin takes a very careful and consistent position on the importance of understanding Moscow, one Western diplomat points out.

Yet Polish officials are quick to point out that Germany was the most powerful and insistent voice throughout the 1990s for getting Poland into NATO - as a way to create a buffer zone between Germany and Russia. Now that Poland is in NATO, Germany has changed its tune, they say, showing indifference to Poland's own interests in a similar buffer zone. They argue it is in Germany's commercial interest to advocate balanced restraint and sensitivity to Moscow.

Along with the non-Russian provinces of Ukraine and the Baltic trio, as well as the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Romanians, eastern Europe hardly includes the sort of dependable, responsible friends the US wants to have as allies. It's more like a gaggle of goslings waiting for a meal. Without Germany, Washington doesn't need such fair weather buddies feeding an addiction for bad strategy.