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Soured Allied Relations Under Bush Need Fixing
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Soured Allied Relations Under Bush Need Fixing
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by Flora Lewis
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One subtle sign of the way that Europe, as a psychological, conscious entity, is gradually emerging from its unsteady steps toward integration has come in the newly sharpened argument about its view of the United States. Talk about Atlantic relations now assumes a common European view, not just a jumble of French, British, German and other attitudes, as used to be the case.
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There has recently been a spate of serious articles responding to a sense of tension. The current issue of Foreign Affairs has two - one by an Englishman reminding the Bush administration that it really does need its European partner, the other by an American acknowledging European irritation but claiming that it reflects a "false crisis" covering a deeper convergence.
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Either way, there is a clearly noticeable increase in the strain since George W. Bush took over in Washington. Many of the issues are not at all new - trade, how to deal with the United Nations, environment, the death sentence among others. But a combination of some new Washington measures - rejecting rules against global warming and attempted joint monitoring of money laundering for example - along with a perceived new harshness in Washington, has magnified resentment.
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A rather nasty, deliberately "aggressive and provocative" campaign in the words of one of its organizers, Olivier Duhamel, has been launched by a few members of the European Parliament. It is in the form of half a dozen extra large postcards with angry caricatures to be mailed to Mr. Bush, at the White House, with the message on each one, "I protest." The subjects include capital punishment, missile defense, land mines and refusal to fund family planning groups which accept abortion.
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The purpose is to stir European youth to political action, Mr. Duhamel said. He points out that there are values required for membership in the European Union - including a ban on the death penalty and a right to an abortion - which America doesn't share.
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Dominique Moïsi, a level-headed political analyst who knows the United States well, says he notes a shift in feelings about America not just among the European elite but in workaday and rural circles, too. "They used to criticize America for what it did. Now, it's for what it is," he said.
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This is not the kind of anti-Americanism promoted for political propaganda during the Cold War, and it should not be exaggerated. But it is disturbing that while some specific issues are cited repeatedly, the problem is more an accumulation of criticism that adds up to a flavor, an unease with what is seen as a crass American outlook based on important cultural differences from Europe's goals.
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In many ways, it is true that a certain kind of globalization permeates modern societies and a lot of the friction and criticism is the kind that used to divide people within a single society, another form of homogenization. But there is a difference between Europe, as a social whole if not a single unit, and America on political issues. It is felt that the goal of social justice has been downgraded in the United States to an extent that Europe does not want to tolerate.
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Awareness of power makes Europeans more sensitive to what they see as American arrogance and Americans less sensitive to allies' concerns.
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Behind all this, and only beginning to weigh on the relations, are new signs of clear difference in ideas of how to address international security. America, or at any rate the current government and its advisers, are focusing on new high-tech answers to what it sees as new technological threats. "Rogue state" missiles and computer vandals give rise to talk about an acute new vulnerability which will require defense in space and make sure that fear of potential enemies is kept alive.
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European leaders see problems of stability and ethnic reconciliation, not polarized belligerence, and are more concerned with easing international affairs than with predicting threats.
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It is good that a series of Atlantic summits are planned for the near future. The leaders have a lot to straighten out to avoid losing an asset both sides need.
© 2001 the International Herald Tribune
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