It looked like one of the countless invitations with which a German ambassador in Washington is usually blessed. The American president had summoned the ambassador to Fort Lesley J. McNair, at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers. Last Wednesday, George W. Bush planned to give an important speech on the superpower's struggle against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

At precisely 2:30 p.m., Wolfgang Ischinger sat down in one the back rows of the auditorium at the National Defense University. But then a White House protocol officer asked his Excellency, the Ambassador of Germany, a medium-sized power, to sit in the front row. There he sat all alone until, of all people, Condoleezza Rice, the US president's national security advisor, joined him.

Then George W. Bush arrived. Before speaking about weapons of mass destruction, he extended a special welcome to the German ambassador: "Thank you for being here today." The President of the world's sole remaining superpower can hardly bestow a greater honor on an ambassador, and Condoleezza Rice told the surprised Ischinger that there were two reasons for this: First, the White House had shown great interest in a speech on a strategic Middle East plan that had just been given by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in Munich. Second, the President is expecting the German chancellor to visit Washington on February 27.

Bush' friendly gesture was the preliminary high point of a remarkable charm offensive on the part of this administration which, until now, has not exactly shown a particular fondness for "old Europe." And the hawk from the Pentagon, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in addressing his German counterpart Peter Struck by his first name on the sidelines of the Munich security conference, refrained from asking whether the Germans intended to send troops to Iraq.

Even State Department undersecretary John Bolton, one of the most adamant proponents of America's hegemonic claims, made an effort to change his tone during his visit to Berlin: "We know how important cooperation with Germany is in decisive areas."

"Forgive the Russians, ignore the Germans, punish the French." That was the solution pronounced by Bush' National Security Advisor Rice after the Iraq war. Hardly any of this sentiment remains today. "Washington makes nice," wrote the International Herald Tribune with fitting irony.

The disaster in Iraq has humbled the US president. Bush is a driven man. In his hour of need, he asked the UN, not exactly an ally, to assume the task of arbitrator in the conflict with the Shiite majority in Iraq. Then he turned to the erstwhile trio of naysayers: Germany, Russia and France.

This fall a new president will be elected in the United States. Bush is still the favorite, but his Democratic opponent is beginning to apply pressure. John Kerry, a highly-decorated Vietnam veteran, accused Bush of having cut the US' ties with its most important allies during its hour of need. The Republican currently in the White House has been forced to counter this criticism and, in a sudden about-turn, is suddenly courting those to whom he had only recently turned a cold shoulder.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the first to gain the attention of the White House. By now, however, even France cannot avoid America's desire for reconciliation. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, especially hated by the Americans because of his role as an instigator in the UN Security Council, recently said, after visiting his US counterpart, Colin Powell, in New York: "We are working together." During a recent visit to Washington, French Defense Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie noticed that a "new page" has been opened: "The situation has become noticeably less tense."

The Americans agree. General James Jones, Supreme Commander of NATO and in charge of US troops in Europe, was overjoyed: "There is more to celebrate than to criticize in French-American relations." In Washington, a group of congressmen even got together to prepare a special reception for French ambassador Jean-David Levitte. At the reception, actors appeared in historical costumes as Lafayette, Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin. The Germans, who have no trouble remembering the frosty environment of past months, are also sensing a new, milder wind blowing from Washington. As recently as last summer, Bush did his utmost to avoid meeting with the German chancellor during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. "I just don't get it with Schröder," sighed the world's most powerful man, under pressure from his advisors. The Chancellor had simply deceived him, said an angry Bush in the year 2003, as Schröder transformed the imminent Iraq campaign into an anti-American election-year tool.

On Friday, the year 2004 president will not only spend a fair amount of time with the German Chancellor. In fact, he has even asked the Chancellor, who is stopping over in Washington between appointments in Chicago and Mississippi, to lunch at the White House. And just to make sure that images of this unexpected harmony are appropriately disseminated, even the press will be invited to attend the event in the Oval Office.

The Europeans are enjoying this new warmth - and, for their part, are avoiding anything that could provoke the Americans again. The Moscow-Berlin-Paris axis, which was constantly coordinating decisions during the Iraq controversy, is now history. Only France and Germany are trying to remain on the same page. "The German-French pair remains our foundation, the key relationship," says a French presidential advisor.

A new member of the pack is Bush' most loyal ally in Europe, British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The Germans and the French believe that almost nothing works on the Continent without London's help, and this is one of the reasons behind summit talks such as the one held in Berlin last Wednesday.

Until now, Schröder and Chirac have enjoyed their upgrades to diplomatic luxury class at a discounted rate. Although they told the American president in December that a "substantial reduction" in Iraq's debt was on the table, the details have yet to be negotiated. And Germany's much-touted Iraqi reconstruction assistance is everything but overwhelming:

• Beginning in March, about a dozen German experts will begin training Iraqi police officers in Abu Dhabi. Germany is just paying the expenses of its own personnel. The United Arab Emirates will pay for the rest.
• Even the modest 200 million Euros that represents the total financial commitment - domestic and international - Berlin made last year will not be paid. The German foreign office has only disbursed 14 of the 40 million Euros promised for humanitarian aid. The remaining 26 million expired on December 31.
• The Germans continue to exercise restraint in terms of military deployment. Because of resistance in the red-green Bundestag parties, the Chancellor and his deputy, Fischer, have urged that NATO involvement in Iraq be pushed back as far into 2005 as possible, and have avoided paying even the smallest amounts. According to Berlin's current plans, if NATO moves its headquarters to Iraq to lead a military campaign, the German officers would be discretely withdrawn.

Schröder and Co. have indicated that more assistance cannot be expected. In addition, George W. Bush' advances are viewed with mixed feelings. The conflict with the stubborn Texan was too vehement for the Europeans now to be able to show much enthusiasm for helping him gain reelection.

"There is no pressure to accommodate the US government's desire, motivated by domestic politics, for more international military involvement in Iraq," says SPD Minister for Development Assistance Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. And the influential vice-chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Gernot Erler, points out that "helping Bush gain reelection is not popular in Germany."

The members of the red-green coalition would prefer to see the Republican voted out of office in November. But political astuteness demands restraint. It would be inconceivable, for example, for Schröder to meet with Bush challenger Kerry at this point.

In spite of the thaw in German-American relations, no one in Berlin is under the illusion that the serious ideological differences with the Bush administration have simply been swept aside. The Europeans continue to believe that stabilization of the Arab region will be impossible unless the "decisive regional conflict" (Fischer) between Israelis and Palestinians is resolved. At the summit in Berlin, Blair, Chirac and Schröder agreed that this must be given "priority."

In contrast, Bush - unlike his predecessor, Bill Clinton - has never been able to manage to give the Middle East question a permanent spot on his list of priorities.

In spite of their satisfaction, this sudden closeness to presidential candidate Bush is almost a little unsettling to the Germans and the French. The American president is apparently already thinking about a spectacular photo op.

On June 6, the 60th anniversary of the Allied landing in France will be commemorated in Normandy. Schröder has already accepted the French president's invitation to attend, and will be the first German chancellor to do so - an opportunity that Bush could also use to his advantage. A group picture on Omaha Beach with the American and the key representatives of "old Europe" is certainly possible.