Posted on 06/10/2005 3:18:57 PM PDT by Pokey78
AS THE DUST SETTLES after the explosive referenda at the heart of the European Union, interested parties from all sides are peering nervously into the crater, trying to figure out what remains of the European "project." E.U. heads of government will meet next weekend to map an immediate route out of the debris. In the Brussels bunker, of course, the familiar instinct has kicked in--pretend nothing has happened. Incredibly, the official plan is that the other E.U. countries should simply carry on ratifying the constitutional treaty that was essentially detonated by the French and Dutch voters.
In the real world, whose characteristics are not readily recognizable to the inhabitants of the bureaucratic fantasy theme park that is the European Commission, serious reconstruction work must now begin. The "No" votes should in fact provide a real opportunity for Europe to revisit the very purpose and meaning of its union. Whatever else they have shown, the popular rejections ought surely to prompt a serious effort both to devolve power from an overweening Brussels and to reconnect the E.U. with the voters of Europe. All that is a question for the Europeans themselves to decide.
The United States, however, has always had a vital national interest in the direction Europe takes, and the events of the last month provide an opportunity for much needed reflection in Washington about the transatlantic relationship. Many of the countries of Europe have been reliable allies over the last 50 years or more. A healthy functioning relationship with this other pole
First, the Bush administration should take a vow of silence when it comes to specific discussions of how Europe should develop. Though some may be tempted to indulge in a little schadenfreude at the sight of Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder contemplating the fragments of their superpower ambitions, they should resist it. Even the merest hint in Europe that Washington is actively seeking to undermine European unity would be enough to strengthen it.
But this silence must, at long last, be genuinely symmetrical. The administration should stop forthwith insisting that it believes ever deeper and closer European integration is in America's best interest. This was true in the Cold War, when Western European fragmentation would have been a real problem in the fight against communism. But in the more complex post-9/11 world, in which threat perceptions and strategies differ across the Atlantic and within Europe, it is no longer self-evidently in U.S. interests that the E.U. try to eliminate national policies.
It is hysterical nonsense to suggest that without closer E.U. integration the European nations will fall back into internecine strife. In fact most E.U. members are mature democracies capable of making rational decisions. It is much more likely that top-down efforts to force separate nations into the straitjacket of one sprawling, remote supernation will only heighten national tensions.
Washington, then, should resist the usual attempts of Europe's political elites to enlist it as an enabler in their efforts to bypass the popular will and pursue their own grand visions. Studied neutrality, with a bias towards supporting the will of the peoples of Europe, should now guide the institutional U.S. approach towards the E.U.
Second, Washington should take this opportunity to reassert the primacy of NATO. A not very well hidden aspect of the E.U. integrationists' agenda has long been the supplanting of NATO (a transatlantic alliance that incidentally already includes Turkey) with a specific E.U. defense identity. Despite protestations to the contrary, it was always clear that the prime movers behind this--the French--intended it to become an alternative locus for European nations to pursue their own foreign policy goals. Over time, that would have meant downgrading and eventually destroying the transatlantic institution in which America retains the strongest voice, NATO.
Third, the United States should do more to encourage its friends in Europe. The Bush administration has repeatedly missed opportunities to improve its standing in those countries whose governments remain actively committed to supporting the administration's main foreign policy goals. That may mean giving more concessions than it might otherwise wish to allies such as Tony Blair, in his efforts to produce more generous debt relief for Africa. It may mean a bit more generosity with defense contracts to companies from friendly European nations, or less onerous visa requirements for those countries' students and workers. The United States should actively encourage broader economic cooperation with any European countries that want it--promoting greater flexibility of labor and goods.
Finally, and perhaps most important, the United States should gently urge the Europeans now to address the real challenge they face. Washington has a powerful interest in seeing a strong Europe in the world as a vigorous partner for
What the bulk of the E.U. desperately needs is economic growth. Instead of creating hundreds more jobs for Eurocrats, Euro-diplomats, and Euro-politicians with global pretensions, it should be creating millions of real jobs for the growing army of unemployed that truly threatens economic vitality and political stability.
That means real economic reform, including deregulation and more flexible labor markets. There may not be much the United States can do directly to assist in that process except offer encouragement. But making European economic recovery, rather than European integration, a central plank of U.S. foreign policy would be more likely to help produce the kind of Europe that would really be in American interests.
An economically healthy, politically vibrant, wholeheartedly democratic Europe is a vital partner for the United States in the world. The way to achieve such a Europe is not to facilitate the superpower fantasies of its remote and unaccountable political elites, but to empower the European people themselves with free markets and a real voice in the direction of their continent.
--Gerard Baker, for the Editors
How many Marshall Plans do they think they earned?
True, but France (Chirac etal) needs to stop trying to control the rest of the EU and tend to it's own labor problems. France needs to get over it's Napoleanic complex and face reality.
A very interesting read, thanks.
Interesting read, but little substance.
given 3 bucks, Europe will revert Socialist, Anti American garbage.
While it is certainly worthwhile to pursue agendas of common interest, a Regan era phrase resonates:
"Trust but verify."
The best way for the United States to reach "a healthy functioning relationship" with Europe is through a policy of studied and benign neglect.
Europe needs to sink or swim by itself. It did so before there was a United States. If they are the power that they believe that they are, they will be able to do so again.
With regard to the posted article, if Europe believes that it is in Europe's best interests to bail out Africa, it should by all means do so. Their responsibility for the impending renaissance in Africa that they claim to anticipate will, no doubt, be a bright and shining moment in the history of the new Europe. Given the rich rewards that they anticipate from this, they should have no difficulty in doing this upon the backs of European ratepayers, as opposed to doing so upon the backs of long-suffering American taxpayers.
And when this all comes to pass, we will be more than happy to provide them with the same polite flutter of applause with which they have so graciously rewarded our efforts in the undeveloped world in the decades since WW II.
Best regards
LOL! Best one I've heard all week!
Africa's economic development is critical to the National Security of the United States. That is where terrorists are attempting to redeploy to now. We can not, and will not allow that. The most effective way is to support them economically, but in order to get better results there will be changes in the way we've done business with them in the past.
Take a look at the National Security Strategy of the United States for a more comprehensive explanation - it's in there:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html
To quote Monty Python, I think we should "...fart in their general direction...Ppppppppttt!!!"
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.
Europe needs to suffer the consequences of its choices. Suffering those consequences may be the only way for it to gain the courage it needs to change course.
duplicate:
What America Can Do for Europe
The Weekly Standard | June 20, 2005 | Gerard Baker for the editors
Posted on 06/10/2005 1:42:23 PM PDT by quidnunc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1420548/posts
As if saving Europe from Naziism and Communism wasn't enough.
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