Spiegel Online International Photo Gallery
King Abdullah of Saudi-Arabia: According to an embassy dispatch, he can't stand his neighbors in Iran and, expressing his disdain for mullahs in Tehran, said "there is no doubt something unstable about them." Photograph: Spiegel Online International
Mehriban Aliyeva (second from right), the wife of Azerbaijan leader Ilham Aliyev: She has had so much plastic surgery that it is possible to confuse her for one of her daughters from a distance, but that she can barely still move her face, according to US embassy dispatches. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
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Datendesaster erschüttert Washington
Bild: Spiegel ONline
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Die ganze Welt kann nachlesen, wie Amerikas Außenpolitik funktioniert - die Enthüllung der Geheimdepeschen schockiert US-Diplomaten: Sie müssen nun wütende Kollegen in vielen Ländern besänftigen. Experten sehen die Beziehungen zwischen Botschaftern und ihren Gastländern schwer beschädigt.

Die Veröffentlichung von mehr als 250.000 vertraulichen Dokumenten des US-Außenministeriums durch die Internetplattform WikiLeaks hat Amerikas Hauptstadt in helle Aufregung versetzt. Die Enthüllung, die auch die Schlagzeilen von Medien in aller Welt bestimmt, schockiert vor allem Diplomaten.

"Diese Datenpanne ist ein schwerer Schlag für die US-Diplomatie", sagte Charles Kupchan, früher im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat des Weißen Hauses für Europa zuständig, SPIEGEL ONLINE. Die Enthüllung blamiere Washington. Nun würden Informanten wohl kaum noch mit amerikanischen Diplomaten sprechen wollen - aus Angst, die Unterredungen könne bald jeder nachlesen. >>> Von Gregor Peter Schmitz, Washington | Montag, 29. November 2010

SPIEGEL Interview with Goldman Sachs CEO: 'We Didn't Realize How Bad Things Would Get'
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In a SPIEGEL interview, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, 55, discusses his astronomical bonuses, the mistakes and failures of his bank prior to the start of the global financial crisis and his proposals for better regulating financial markets.

SPIEGEL: Mr. Blankfein, two years ago, your $67.9 million bonus was the largest ever paid to a Wall Street banker. You recently said that you could understand the anger that people are expressing over inflated bonuses. How are we to understand this?

Blankfein: I think people legitimately question whether compensation is tied to performance and, looking back, they see that some people were enriched but did not seem to have any alignment with their shareholders. A large part of the compensation paid to our senior people, including mine, is paid in shares, which may be worth less or more depending on our performance well after they were granted. This is what our shareholders want and we are convinced of this alignment of interests.

SPIEGEL: Still, $67.9 million is an astronomical sum. Is there any way to justify this?

Blankfein: Our board of directors sets the pay of our most senior executives, including mine. They tie pay to the firm's performance and I believe we have established a strong track record of correlating growth in revenues to growth in compensation. The real test is whether compensation is reduced when performance changes. For example, in 1994, the firm made a loss and the partners had to pay money back to the firm so that the staff could be paid. And, in 2008, which was a very difficult year as you know, I was paid no bonus, even though the firm was profitable.

SPIEGEL: That all sounds very rational. But don't such payments promote greed as the primary motivator?

Blankfein: I think we all know that greed can drive behavior, but it tends to be short term and ultimately destructive. Our leadership team stands out because most of our people have built their whole career at the firm and stayed through many years and many changes in the market. When our people leave they tend to go on to other positions -- whether in government or other forms of public service -- that no one would do if their were motives were financial. Those characteristics don't make me think of "greed."

SPIEGEL: So only modest, good people work for Goldman Sachs? We hardly believe that.

Blankfein: I have stated my honest view of things.

SPIEGEL: This week in Pittsburgh, the G-20 will discuss stricter regulation of bonus payments. Based on what you have said, you believe that such efforts will do nothing to prevent future crises?

Blankfein: That is not what I said. The incentive aspect played a role in the crisis, but it was not the primary cause -- I think you have to look at the macroeconomic backdrop, the concentrations of risk in certain institutions and the fact that many, including regulators, should in hindsight have had better information and acted sooner to address capital and liquidity shortfalls. >>> | Tuesday, September 22, 2009

David Crossland, Editor of SpiegelOnline, Gives His Views on Integration
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Germany is doing a bad job of integrating its immigrants, argues SPIEGEL ONLINE editor David Crossland, who was born in Bonn to English parents. He argues that rather than rail against "criminal young foreigners," the country ought to be doing more to welcome its minorities. They are, after all, here to stay.

"Germany is not a country of immigration," Roland Koch said this month as he sought to revive his campaign for a third term as governor of the western state of Hesse by calling for a crackdown on "criminal young foreigners."

The statement, borrowed from former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, is untrue. Some 15 million people, or just under a fifth of the German population, have an immigrant background. The real message is: "We don't want Germany to be a country of immigration."

"Foreigners" -- they're often called that here even if they and their parents were born here -- get that message loud and clear in their everyday lives. That steely look of disapproval in shops when a customer expresses an enquiry in accented or broken German. The difficulty of finding an apartment to rent if your surname isn't Müller.

Just speaking English can get you into trouble on a Berlin S-Bahn train. A number of youths, presumably of far-right persuasion, glared at me during a recent ride through the east of the city. One muttered "piece of shit," while another shouted "nigger!" before rushing out -- and I'm white.

I'd hate to be living here if I had brown or black skin. Statistics on racist assaults prove that parts of eastern Germany are no-go zones for ethnic minorities. Germany’s Homegrown Intolerance >>> By David Crossland

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