On March 3, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of united Germany visited with President Joe Biden at the White House.

The visit brought no public disagreement. Some misguided media observers have questioned whether the visit was at all necessary. That unfortunate outlook overlooks the situation in Europe and the contemporary roles of Germany, and — above all — that nation’s history.

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Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of “After the Cold War” (NYU Press and Macmillan). Readers can wrote to him at acyr@carthage.edu.

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