At the same time, Merkel strongly pushed to finalize an investment deal with Beijing before the new American administration came into office, knowing such a deal would not sit well in Washington; the deal has since been held up by the European Parliament. Germany falls woefully short of the 2 percent of GDP spending on defense expected of all NATO members. Berlin also reacted negatively to the American-led push to drop patents on development of vaccines to fight COVID. Responsibility for the problems in the German-American relationship, in other words, does not lie solely on this side of the Atlantic.

Moreover, Merkel’s goals shouldn’t be confused with Germany’s needs. She is in her last months as chancellor, having announced her intention to retire following September’s elections. While she favors Nord Stream 2, it’s not clear that her expected successor or their coalition will. Two more months might have made a world of difference. As for whether Germany really needs Russian gas directly, the economics may be misleading: As the opposition to Nord Stream 2 has mounted, Russia has artificially constrained its gas exports to Europe, driving up the price of gas and creating the illusion of excess demand. This is an argument for Europe to make itself less dependent on Russian gas, not more.

But even assuming there were unknown factors that made the Biden administration’s decision urgent, the interests of other allies and partners are getting shortchanged.