Mr. Olson may have a nice resume but not once did he speak with personal knowledge of the German people, so I assume he never lived in Germany or mixed with German citizens.  First off, once the Berlin Wall came down, Germany was united and American military forces reduced in Germany the Germans, especially the politicians, developed a different view of the USA.  They no longer saw the USA as necessary and started to make moves toward Russian due to their reliance on  Russian energy.  

All that said Mr. Olson never mentions a person who he believes would make a good US ambassador to Germany.  So makes me again question his motives and why the Examiner would publish his article.  He leaves out one of the most important requirements for a US ambassador to Germany, he/she should speak German and should have lived in Germany.  A lot of well qualified Americans speak German and have lived in Germany.  Finally, Germany isn't our best partner or ally in Europe, not since the Wall came down.