I would not call a single nonhub intercont. flight a new strategy.

Washington-Dulles from Berlin was introduced after year-long begging from certain political circles in Berlin ( not without a reason named Joschka-Shuttle )

The flight was expected to lose money for quite some time, because of poor premium class bookings ( Government discounts are steep, UA Codesharing to make it eligible for US Government employees was not yet on the agenda... ) , but on the other hand one should not underestimate the payback from the Government`s side of the table...

IIRC, there is a small airline from the U.A.E wanting more access to Germany since years, which is getting rejected from the German Government since quite some time...