In his book Germany's Russia Problem, John Lough, Chatham House fellow, has studied how Germany's emotional connection with Russian society and culture has contributed to a German willingness to misread the direction in which Russia has been heading. Speaking at Chatham House recently he argued "a strange combination of emotions is at play – an historic fear of Russia, a sense of guilt for the crimes of the Nazis, a gratitude to Moscow for permitting German unification to happen when it did and with such speed, and a large measure of sentimentality based on a liking of Russian culture. Then there was an economic logic – historically Germany has had the technology and Russia the resources, and that creates some sort of natural complementarity between the two countries. Finally there is a widely held perception that Ostpolitik [the normalisation of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Eastern Europe] from the late 1960s and 70s brought an end to the cold war. By relaxing tensions, building contacts, trading more, somehow in the end Russia will be a rational actor". There is an almost religious belief that since Russia needs markets and Germany needs Russian gas, the mutual dependence will ensure stability.
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/XVV5O5JJW5NQZOYFQUTDYX2UAU.jpg)
