For a few brief shining moments on Thursday, attention will turn to Barack Obama�s only public speech of his week-long foreign tour, when the presumed Democratic nominee speaks at Berlin�s 19th Century Victory Column.
With a recent Gallup poll showing a majority of Europeans favoring the Illinois senator over Sen. John McCain, Germans are expected to flood Berlin�s central Tiergarten at 7 p.m. to hear signs Senator Obama, if elected, will repair relations between the U.S. and Germany, badly damaged over the last eight-years, particularly since the beginning of the Iraq war.
Devin Pendas, Professor of History and Director of Graduate Studies at Boston College, thinks ``part of the German hostility to the war in Iraq stems from the fact that most Germans perceive that conflict to be a purely American affair, in a way that the Cold War was clearly not. ``And because Germany, unlike Spain or England, has not been the victim of a terrorist attack, Professor Pendas explained, they feel even less connection to a global war on terror.��
And while much has changed in Germany�s capital and largest city in the northeast part of the country since the days of the Cold War, with the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and the disintegration of Communism, Berlin might actually be a perfect setting for the junior senator to tackle some common themes hardly limited to Germany, Europe, or even the United States, which are: economic hardships, how to deal with a growing immigration population, and uniting countries divided by religious and cultural differences.
Michael P. Steinberg, Director of the Cogut Center for the Humanities and Professor of History and Music at Brown University, thinks Obama's speech has the potential of breaking down old walls and building new bridges, particularly in ethnically diverse populations ``It [Berlin] has the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey, i.e. a largely Islamic population that has had substantial success with integration into European culture, social fabric, and politics. ``Obama, Professor Steinberg wrote through an email, represents symbolically the replacement of old oppositions with new hybridities.��
And though Mr. Obama�s been known to gladden crowds with his compelling message of hope and optimism to people beset by the carnage of war, struggling with a housing and energy crisis, and the helplessness felt by a displaced labor force, the expectations of his speech will inescapably be compared to John F. Kennedy, when the 35th president of the United States spoke 45-years ago to an ecstatic mob assembled at Berlin�s Rudolph Wild Platz. Unquestionably, a tall-order has been placed on Mr. Obama�s plate even for a charismatic and gifted speaker as himself.
After all, what words or phrases can the Democratic nominee possibly use that could top JFK�s memorable: ``Ich bin ein Berliner��
Steven Ozment, Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University, and author of ``A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People��, has a few suggestions:
``Heute wieder ein Volk"
``Today once again one people!"
``Die freie Stadt Chicago gruesst die freie Stadt Berlin"
``Free Chicago greets Free Berlin!"
"Ich bin ein Buerger der Welt!" "
``I am a citizen of the world!"
**
While Professor Steinberg, suggests:
"Wir sind alle Berliner."
``We are all Berliners"
**
Since the Iraq war has dragged everyone�s spirits down in one form or another from every corner of the globe, my suggestion would be for Sen. Obama to use a line attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German poet, novelist and playwright, who wrote:
``Uber allen Gipfeln 1st Ruh''
``Over all the mountain tops is peace.��
Of course, if Mr. Obama really wants to shamelessly pander to the home crowd, he could always invoke George Clemenceau�s last dying words (at least as documented by Norman Davies in ``Europe: a History��):
``Ich w�nsche, aufrecht vergraben zu werden -- stehend Deutschland gegen�ber�.
``I wish to be buried upright-facing Germany.''
-Bill Lucey
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