Schroeder Ist Kaput

Gerhard Schroeder has led his party to an electoral shellacking in Westphalia, Germany’s rust belt and the power base of the Social Democrats. The fear of a split within the ruling coalition or more beating at the polls has forced him to take the “highly unusual” step of calling early elections this fall:

Mr Schroeder’s Social Democrat-led government not only lost its traditional powerbase on Sunday, but it now has so few seats in the upper house of parliament that its ability to actively govern is massively diminished, our correspondent says.

The last time Germany held early elections was 1983.

One wonders how the U.S. assessment of Germany’s suitability to sit on the Security Council will change if Angela Merkel, who is decidedly more friendly to America, becomes Germany’s first female chancellor. I’d hope our recommendation–whatever it is–is mindful of a long-term assessment of Germany’s capacity to be helpful or troublesome. On that narrow question, I haven’t given the matter enough thought to express a view.

One fact that strikes me as significant is that the U.N.’s main weakness is the power of states and voting blocs with fundamentally undemocratic values. If more states were added to the Security Council without changing the veto rules, then things will only get worse. But if adding more states will mean a recognition that no one state should continue to have the veto, then adding more democratic states could be a positive step.

I wonder if he’ll try to use anti-Americanism to save his skin again.