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French submarines
Photo: Naval Group / AFP
What personal insult must be accepted in an election campaign, which commercial is still acceptable, which is tasteless and - breaking news, breaking news! - What new surveys are there that confirm or refute the general trend a little? All nice questions with a certain entertainment value, but given what is currently going on in the rest of the world, it is gratifying that the seemingly endless German election campaign will soon be over. Maybe then someone will be interested in foreign policy again. It would be time.
US President Joe Biden is friendlier - or better: affable - than his predecessor Donald Trump, more authoritative in tone and more compassionate.
Which is not a high hurdle, but applies to the majority of the world's population and says nothing about the political course of the United States.
And it is becoming increasingly clear that the similarities between the previous and current administrations in Washington are greater than had been hoped in many places before the US presidential election.
Not a war, but a split
It was just a month ago that the US snubbed its NATO allies with a lack of willingness to cooperate when it withdrew from Afghanistan, and then the next scandal followed: The United States, together with Australia and Great Britain, declared an Indo-Pacific security alliance - which led to France a submarine business that was believed to be safe went through the rags.
Australia would prefer to do that with the new partners.
Paris responded promptly and called back its ambassadors from Washington and Canberra, a rather - well: unusual move between allies.
Usually, states would do well to review their fortifications once the relationship is so shattered.
Now, of course, there is no threat of war within NATO.
But a split: absolutely.
And all the trouble about - Australia?
Australia?
Isn't that this distant, inaccessible area behind the seven mountains?
Not anymore, not for a long time.
The continent's strategic importance for the United States has grown considerably since the United States had to fight for its place as the undisputed world power.
And the outcome of this struggle is open given the growing influence of China.
"America first", America first: the slogan was not chosen diplomatically and reinforced the justified suspicion worldwide that Donald Trump was ready to be ruthless in his own interest.
Biden would never have put it that way.
But he acts accordingly.
The powerlessness of the Europeans
Incidentally, reactions to the new Indo-Pacific security alliance are also divided in Southeast Asia, with some states fearing an arms race in the region. However, this is at best a little consolation for the European NATO partners. Because they were once again shown their own impotence - there is little more they can do at the moment than hand in protest notes in the White House and hope that the porter will at least pass them on.
That this is so is also and above all due to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who plays a tragicomic and inglorious role in the matter. He never buried old dreams of world power, and after all hopes for wonderful international trade agreements after Brexit had been dashed, he now eagerly seized the opportunity to play a part in the new security alliance. That is a bit ridiculous, but unfortunately quite dangerous in terms of European security unity. The two nuclear powers France and Great Britain in open dispute with one another - Europe was just missing that.
The hope of defusing the conflict rests, paradoxically, in Washington of all places.
Joe Biden knows - and there is indeed a serious difference to his predecessor - that he can neither shoulder the fight against the consequences of climate change nor the fight against a pandemic alone.
The open break with European allies is not in his interest, not least because the USA has been using military bases in Germany for operations in the Middle East for years.
Which, by the way, is actually quite controversial in this country.
When there is no election campaign and there is talk of commercials.