''Ami, it's time to go! Plädoyer für die Selbstbehauptung Europas'' is a 2022 book by the German politician

Oskar Lafontaine Oskar Lafontaine (; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and was federal leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1995 to 1999. He was the lead candid ...

. The book is critical of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and the United States. The title is adapted from the 1970s slogan "" ''Ami'' is German slang for Americans.

Summary

Over 64 pages,

, who briefly served as Minister of Finance in the

First Schröder cabinet The First Schröder cabinet (German: ''Kabinett Schröder I'') was the 19th Government of Federal Republic of Germany in office from 27 October 1998 until 22 October 2002. It succeeded the Fifth Kohl cabinet formed after the 1998 elections. Ger ...

and later co-founded The Left, gives his analysis of the relationship between Germany and the United States. He is highly critical of the American military presence in Germany and the policies on

, which he says is impossible to regard as a defence organisation and only can be described as a tool for American geopolitical interests. Lafontaine says Germany's military aid to Ukraine during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

shows how Germany is not an independent country, but a

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

to the United States. He argues that Europe needs to break with its submission to American interests and pave its own way.

Reception

The book was published by Westend Verlag in Frankfurt on 21 November 2022. It had a first print run of 10,000 copies and entered the German bestseller chart for non-fiction on position ten.

References

{{reflist

External links

Westend Verlag
2022 non-fiction books German non-fiction books Opposition to NATO Germany and NATO Anti-American sentiment in Germany Books about the United States written by foreigners Books about foreign relations of the United States Reactions to the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Summary

Reception

See also

References

External links