German Diplomat Herbert Quelle talks German reunification, Syrian refugees.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Germany, the Ohio University Global Leadership Center invited Herbert Quelle, a German government senior diplomat, to speak at Alden Library.
Quelle, who lives in Chicago as Consul General of the German Consulate, began by discussing the events that led to the Berlin Wall being taken down. He quoted President Ronald Reagan's famous line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
“Gorbachev did not take down that wall just because Regan said so. Gorbachev saw that the system he had inherited was not working,” Quelle said.
Quelle then delved into how Germany was able to unite and become the powerhouse it is today without the use of violence.
Quelle also talked about the Syrian refugee crisis and the influx of migrants into Europe. He said although it was not a problem rooted in Europe, a responsibility fell upon Europe and the United States to solve the problem.
Quelle said increasing the budgets of international organizations would improve the conditions of the refugee camps.
“The solution is not just putting up a fence or those on the other side of the fence will drown,” Quelle said.
After Quelle’s nearly 30-minute speech and audience questions, the event then moved to a panel discussion involving Quelle, Leipzig University Professor Crister Garrett, OU master’s student Rene Grzona, Interim Director of Global Leadership Center Brook Hailu Beshah, journalism Professor Bernhard Debatin and Director of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Robert Stewart.
The panel discussion centered around how far Germany has come and the level of pride Germans feel in their country.
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“You’ll never hear a German politician say, ‘I want to make this country great again, ’ " Quelle said.
He said Germany has gone through being overly prideful in a dark part of its history, but is was not the case anymore.
“The German flag is something we can be proud of now, we can raise the flag, but not higher than any other European countries,” said Quelle.
Stewart said after the discussion he hoped students would be “thinking about Germany as an actor in world politics where big decisions are being made.“
Jonathan Baldwin, a senior studying psychology, said he was impressed by the quality of speakers.
“It was inspiring, sitting in a room with so many distinguished people,” Baldwin said. “It widen my perspective.”
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