At the recent Malta Summit, Chancellor Angela Merkel rightly pointed out  that “ The more strongly the EU is clear about how it defines its role in the world, the better it can tend its transatlantic relations.''

The EU struggles for a Strategic Narrative. The EU strategic narrative is complicated by the hybrid nature of the institution - reflecting both supranational and intergovernmental aspects, which complicates efforts to speak with a single voice in international affairs. The EU has in recent years lost a vision for a shared narrative , thus hampering the EU's strategic impact. This has been most clearly witnessed in EU crisis management in which diverging and occasionally conflicting narratives have emerged.

There is tremendous political capital vested in the euro and it is unlikely that the euro will come apart. Even in Germany, the euro has still a lot of political and popular support. The collapse of the euro and the costs to the European and the world economy would be unprecedented. Equally important, the political costs for Europe would be immense. The credibility of both EU-wide institutions and national governments would suffer a massive blow.

It is in America’s interest to establish positive relations with Germany. Germany is one of the United States’ closest and strongest allies in Europe. U.S. relations with Germany are based on close and vital relations as friends, trading partners and allies. In the political sphere, Germany stands as the center of European affairs and plays a key leadership role as a member of the G-7, G-20, NATO and the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).