Follow-up to my post #9262, re: the growing drift in the US-EU relationship....
An Evolving Europe Raises U.S.-NATO Anxiety
Roger Cohen New York Times Service
BERLIN A little phrase from Rudolf Scharping, the German defense minister, recently caused U.S. military commanders to shudder: "As the European Union develops its security and defense policy and becomes an independent actor, we must determine our security policy with Russia, our biggest neighbor."
.
The specter of Europe - and particularly its central power, Germany - adopting a more independent stance from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and paying close heed to Russia is not only chilling for the United States but also hard to reconcile with the Atlantic alliance that has preserved Europe's stability and advanced U.S. interests for more than a half-century.
.
The alliance is not about to fall apart: Too much is at stake for that, not least the peace of mind of the many Europeans who still believe this continent is inherently unstable unless the United States is present. But as Mr. Scharping's words suggest, something fundamental has shifted in the trans-Atlantic relationship.
.
The 15-member European Union, long a mere trade bloc, has begun to develop into a grouping with its own serious military and strategic ambitions. Where exactly such ambitions are directed remains uncertain, but this much seems clear: The scope of Europe's quest for an altered balance of power in its post-Cold War ties with Washington is not yet fully appreciated by the administration of President George W. Bush.
.
Addressing the allies for the first time last weekend in Munich, the U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, who headed the Pentagon for 14 months in the mid 1970s, did not use the words "European Union."
.
It was this omission - as much as Mr. Rumsfeld's stark warning to the Europeans to avoid "actions that could reduce NATO's effectiveness by confusing duplication or by perturbing the trans-Atlantic link" - that was noted in European capitals.
[snip]
iht.com |
