[BRIEF NOTE] My last post on Westerwelle, I promise
In my final post on Guido Westerwelle, the out leader of Germany's successful Free Democratic Party ( 1, 2), I'd like to note James Kirchick's suggestion in Newsweek that Westerwelle, if he becomes Foreign Minister as per German political tradition, could help normalize of homosexuality in any number of homophobic countries by his very presence.
Westerwelle is about to become the face that Germany presents overseas-which might be a problem for the nations where the denial of homosexuality and the imprisonment, torture, and murder of gay people are official state policies. That's why, after he takes the helm of the Foreign Ministry, Westerwelle ought to kick off his tenure with a tour of the world's most homophobic nations, speaking about the horrific ways in which these regimes treat their gay citizens. Unfortunately, he might be on the road for a while.
Westerwelle could begin his journey in Iran, which depends heavily on Germany as its No. 1 European trading partner. In his infamous address two years ago at Columbia University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the very existence of homosexuality in his country-an absurd claim. Three years ago, the case of two Iranian teenagers hanged for homosexuality drew worldwide condemnation.
After Iran, it'd be on to nearby Saudi Arabia, which, despite a burgeoning gay underworld, beheads gay people. Then he could fly down to Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe refers to gays as "perverts" who are "lower than dogs and pigs." It was probably inevitable that a crude strongman like Hugo Chávez would turn to prejudices like anti-Semitism and homophobia in order to find scapegoats for his ruinous policies; who better than Westerwelle-as the foreign minister of a country that overcame its own murderous encounters with these two hatreds-to confront Chávez about targeting such vulnerable populations? How could these assorted dictators respond to the foreign minister from the fourth-biggest economy with anything other than bluster?
While it's unfortunately true that many homophobic regimes channel popular homophobic opinion in their countries, it's also true that individuals are more likely to support equal rights for homosexuals if they interact with them. For the vast majority of the people in nations Westerwelle visits, he will be just a distant figure, someone whose face they will see on the front page of newspapers and on television. But his being in the room during high-level talks with the likes of Ahmadinejad and Vladimir Putin may alter their attitudes about homosexuality, if only a little.
There is, of course, the question of whether or not someone's personal identity should be used to make someone do something. There's also the question of whether or not he will actually become Finance Minister, if only for the sake of a coherent foreign policy firmly under the control over the governing party.
[I]ncoherence in foreign policy mattered little before reunification, when Germany's low-key foreign policy mainly consisted of supporting European integration and the transatlantic alliance. But today, Germany claims international leadership and is expected to adopt regional and global responsibilities. Today, German foreign policy should not be a matter of coalition squabbles. Therefore, the foreign minister should come from Merkel's own party.
Westerwelle should move into the finance ministry instead. While the foreign policy part of the FDP's manifesto is weak, it has strong positions on economic policy: it advocates open markets, less stringent hiring and firing rules, an effective competition policy, help for small enterprises and, most importantly, lower and simpler taxes. Westerwelle insists that he will not sign a coalition agreement that does not contain tax reform. But he also knows that with €1.6 trillion in public debt and a new law mandating a zero deficit by 2016, there is not much room for fiscal manoeuvre.
Why am I excited by all this? It's just nice to have a high-profile political figure who's out, and Canada doesn't have such a figure apart from a certain someone who really isn't gay, no, really. Iceland's Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and Britain's Peter Mandelson. (Britons can tell me whether the last is a good role model; I've read a broad spectrum of opinions.) It's just, well, it makes me happy.
Westerwelle is about to become the face that Germany presents overseas-which might be a problem for the nations where the denial of homosexuality and the imprisonment, torture, and murder of gay people are official state policies. That's why, after he takes the helm of the Foreign Ministry, Westerwelle ought to kick off his tenure with a tour of the world's most homophobic nations, speaking about the horrific ways in which these regimes treat their gay citizens. Unfortunately, he might be on the road for a while.
Westerwelle could begin his journey in Iran, which depends heavily on Germany as its No. 1 European trading partner. In his infamous address two years ago at Columbia University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the very existence of homosexuality in his country-an absurd claim. Three years ago, the case of two Iranian teenagers hanged for homosexuality drew worldwide condemnation.
After Iran, it'd be on to nearby Saudi Arabia, which, despite a burgeoning gay underworld, beheads gay people. Then he could fly down to Zimbabwe, where President Robert Mugabe refers to gays as "perverts" who are "lower than dogs and pigs." It was probably inevitable that a crude strongman like Hugo Chávez would turn to prejudices like anti-Semitism and homophobia in order to find scapegoats for his ruinous policies; who better than Westerwelle-as the foreign minister of a country that overcame its own murderous encounters with these two hatreds-to confront Chávez about targeting such vulnerable populations? How could these assorted dictators respond to the foreign minister from the fourth-biggest economy with anything other than bluster?
While it's unfortunately true that many homophobic regimes channel popular homophobic opinion in their countries, it's also true that individuals are more likely to support equal rights for homosexuals if they interact with them. For the vast majority of the people in nations Westerwelle visits, he will be just a distant figure, someone whose face they will see on the front page of newspapers and on television. But his being in the room during high-level talks with the likes of Ahmadinejad and Vladimir Putin may alter their attitudes about homosexuality, if only a little.
There is, of course, the question of whether or not someone's personal identity should be used to make someone do something. There's also the question of whether or not he will actually become Finance Minister, if only for the sake of a coherent foreign policy firmly under the control over the governing party.
[I]ncoherence in foreign policy mattered little before reunification, when Germany's low-key foreign policy mainly consisted of supporting European integration and the transatlantic alliance. But today, Germany claims international leadership and is expected to adopt regional and global responsibilities. Today, German foreign policy should not be a matter of coalition squabbles. Therefore, the foreign minister should come from Merkel's own party.
Westerwelle should move into the finance ministry instead. While the foreign policy part of the FDP's manifesto is weak, it has strong positions on economic policy: it advocates open markets, less stringent hiring and firing rules, an effective competition policy, help for small enterprises and, most importantly, lower and simpler taxes. Westerwelle insists that he will not sign a coalition agreement that does not contain tax reform. But he also knows that with €1.6 trillion in public debt and a new law mandating a zero deficit by 2016, there is not much room for fiscal manoeuvre.
Why am I excited by all this? It's just nice to have a high-profile political figure who's out, and Canada doesn't have such a figure apart from a certain someone who really isn't gay, no, really. Iceland's Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and Britain's Peter Mandelson. (Britons can tell me whether the last is a good role model; I've read a broad spectrum of opinions.) It's just, well, it makes me happy.