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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (73588)	2/13/2003 2:11:37 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

<<...If Powell weren't in this administration, I wonder what the approval ratings for the Bush folk would be right now...>> That's a good question...I wonder who our allies would be dealing with...? The other night Charlie Rose interviewed a few folks tekboy may know well... -Philip Gordon from the Brookings Institution -Ronald Asmus from The German Marshall Fund (and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State) Both of these thoughtful foreign policy experts worked in the last Administration and travel overseas a lot...They said that we are at a turning point with these tensions in our Trans Atlantic Relationships with important allies...Why was Europe solidly with us after the 9/11 tragedy and why have we lost so much support since then..?? They said its not just Powell's problem (though Philip Gordon said Powell has only been to Europe twice so far as Secretary of State)...it take time and effort to build and re-build important relationships...Both Gordon and Asmus felt 'the pre-emptive strike policy' does not go over well in Europe...They are very uncomfortable with the Bushies' unilateralist approach to foreign affairs (e.g. 'you're either with us or against us')...Both of these foreign policy experts said we should consult European leaders more and they said it has been less than helpful when the Bush Administration was divided and at times dysfunctional in terms of what type of policy it wants to pursue. They feel that many of the European nations that have reluctantly signed on to support the U.S. in an Iraqi military adventure only are doing that because they are weaker and feel like they need to do it for economic reasons...All the nations would prefer to have the U.N. drive the process and to move more slowly towards war....Gordon (who is in Europe alot) said that Bush is viewed as a Nationalist who is unwilling to compromise...he said that The U.S. is seriously damaging the important relationships with France and Germany -- this could have far reaching consequences for a long time too. Ronald Asmus said that not only do some of the Europeans NOT believe in our strategy for dealing with Iraq but they see a degree of arrogance and hubris that surrounds our NeoConservative Administration officials (Rumsfeld is a classic example here)....This drives the Europeans to treat America in antagonistic way. Philip Gordon says there are different fears...The U.S. currently fears what may happen if we don't go to war in Iraq and change the regime...Europe fears what may happen if we do attack Iraq --> they fear terrorist attacks after the war (We know Al Qaeda will most likely follow through as well). Finally, Ronald Asmus said we are in the midst of 'a Trans Atlantic train wreck'...this is the time for more enlightened statesmanship. Lets hope we see it -- sooner rather than later. -s2