In a famous comment in January 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld referred to a difference between Old Europe and New Europe. By "Old Europe," he meant mainly the traditional European leaders, France and Germany, which adopted a stance critical of U.S. policy on Iraq. He saw the "New Europe" as consisting of former Iron Curtain countries, now part of the free world, whose leaders supported the U.S. on Iraq. The emergence of the "New Europe" has been a development of great historical significance. It has marked the transformation of Europe from being the world's epicenter of war and destruction in the first half of the twentieth century into a model of international cooperation in the second--something that would have seemed beyond the wildest imagination of anyone viewing the debris of World War II in 1945. Germany is a country that has been at the heart of the move toward European unity. Its policies since World War II have reflected a renunciation of militarism, a strong commitment to democracy and human rights, and support for the peaceful resolution of international conflicts. It has also been a solid ally of the United States since World War II. The tensions between Germany and the United States over the war in Iraq marked an unusual break in what had previously been a notable pattern of cooperation. This article examines the policies and values that led Germany into its opposition to the United States over the war in Iraq. (Contains 8 notes.)