Thread by @andersostlund

Look at this one before analyzing German Russia policy. Putin address the German Parliament in 2001. As he ends the speech the MPs give him standing ovations. When Putin gave the speech he had just terror bombed a city in a way not seen since WWII.

First one can ask why a person who already qualify as a war criminal is invited to address the parliament? Then one can ask what kind of persons give a war criminal standing ovations?

The fact of the matter is that it was very well known what kind of person Putin was when he gave the speech and yet the MPs stood up and applauded. That's a very emotional response, to a person who had already committed crimes beyond the imaginable.

The German MPs who gave Putin standing ovations are probably well educated, as German politicians tend to be, they have families, they reason with logic. But all of a sudden they give standing ovations to a war criminal? Who does that? What made them do it?

I hate to say it but it's not the first time in German history when ordinary, educated and prominent people have applauded an obvious criminal, liar and thug. They didn't have to stand and applaud, that part is clearly emotional. And they were willing to disregard Putin's crimes.

So when we analyze German foreign policy I think we should look less at logic and more at emotions. Especially what kind of emotions make normal people cheer a person like Putin. He whispered a few lies in their ears and they immediately loved him, but they knew what he had done.

There is no way the MPs who gave Putin standing ovations could deny they knew about the terror and human rights crimes Putin had just unleashed in Chechnya. That Putin had persecuted a whole population. The MPs knew this, still they applauded.

Why the German MPs reacted so emotionally to Putin when they knew about his crimes is something that had great impact on national security. Maybe something for your conference to address @ischinger? How people become #Mitläufer is important to know.

In all honesty, if there is any consistency in German foreign policy it is that it has ended in brutal disasters. This might become the case this time too. Emotions should not rule a country.