Diverging views on global matters between the West and Russia in a new poll don't signal the advent of a new Cold War, German Marshall Fund president Karen Donfried tells DW. But there is still cause for concern, reports GHN based on DW.
Karen Donfried has been president of the German Marshall Fund since April 2014. Before that she served as special assistant to US President Barack Obama and as a senior director for European Affairs on the National Security Council. In this capacity, Donfried was President Obama's principal adviser on Europe.
DW: A key finding of your new opinion poll indicates that Germans want their country to play a more independent role from the US and that there is also a general decline in German sentiment toward the US. Are you surprised how deeply the NSA scandal has apparently affected Germans' attitude regarding the US?
Karen Donfried: I think this survey is confirming a trend that we have seen over the past year of the German public being more skeptical about US policy. I think we were anticipating that result, but it certainly is very stark in the survey how much opinion of the US has fallen over the past year.
Many in Germany feel that the US administration has not adequately reacted and registered how damaging the NSA scandal is for transatlantic ties. Should the results of this study be ringing alarm bells in Washington?
I think this is one of those cases where the view is different on both sides of the Atlantic. So, if you were sitting in the US administration the view was that in fact US policymakers took this very seriously. Traditionally in the US, when issues come up relating to the intelligence services, no comment is made.