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Opinion, May 24, 2003, Al-Jazeerah.info |
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Europe in shock
and awe, Nihal Singh
FOR the better or worse,
Europe is on the way to being altered radically as the 21st century
brings more surprises. It will take in a host of former communist East
European countries next year and the American invasion of Iraq has
redefined transatlantic relations even as it has served the purpose of
pitting new members against the old and fostered divisions among the
old. At the same time, a commission is set to pronounce on the future
European architecture.
The end of the Cold War was destined to
lead to a new basis of relations between Europe and the United States.
But a combination of the American war on terrorism and the Bush
administration's military unilateralism, first in Afghanistan and then
in Iraq, led to a 'shock and awe' reaction in European capitals.
Transatlantic relations can never be the same again because 'old
Europe', as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has defined it, does
not believe that it must perennially be in a subservient position to
Washington's overarching imperial goals. The complications arise because Britain,
once rejected by France's Charles de Gaulle as an American Trojan horse,
has defected to the American side for its own selfish reasons and has
taken with it the 'new' Europeans waiting to be admitted to the European
Union and ever eager to please mighty America. The right-wing
governments of Italy and Spain also joined the pro-American train while
their peoples opposed American war aims. Even as France and Germany seek to mend
fences with the United States out of obvious compulsions, the different
visions of a multilateral world with a strong Europe against Tony
Blair's of a unipolar world, with the US wrapping up Europe in its
embrace, clash. With the neoconservative-dominated Bush administration
determined to 'punish' France for its insubordination, the fat is in the
fire. And President George W. Bush shows no inclination to bend American
power to European or other sensitivities. The stage is thus set for a
major reordering of relations as 'old Europe' wrestles with the problem
of remaining relevant to the New World Order and the US set to announce
a redeployment of the bulk of its troops from Germany to 'new Europe'. Obviously, American troops in Europe
(100,000 strong) have overstayed their welcome more than a decade after
the end of the Cold War and redeployment in states such as Bulgaria and
Romania would serve the purpose of 'punishing' Germany while bringing
American soldiers closer to the 'arc of crises' ranging from Central
Asia to the Middle East. 'New Europe' has its own reasons for inviting
US troops for the money they would bring and as an insurance against a
future hostile Russia. France has already complained to the
White House on the allegedly officially-inspired campaign against it in
the American media and for their part, the 'new' Europeans feel
vulnerable because having proclaimed their primary loyalty to the US,
rather than to the European Union they have been pining to belong to,
their bread and butter rests with Brussels and the EU's major members,
France and Germany. The British dilemma of where it belongs - to Europe
or to America - is historical. But none of the European powers would be
interested in wrecking the European Union, a dramatic success story in
economy and trade but less successful in forging a common defence and
security policy. America itself is discovering some hard
lessons. The present mess in Iraq is an indictment of American eagerness
to make war and a scandalous negligence in making peace as the occupying
power. It has reluctantly gone to the UN Security Council to seek
legitimacy for its invasion and occupation while trying to keep the
world organisation away from the levers of power. America cannot run the
world alone or on the basis of a 'coalition of the willing'. The Bush
administration believes that it has the strength to bully or bribe the
world into acquiescing in an American-tailored universe. The chaos in American-occupied Iraq is a
precursor of the chaos that will plague other world spots if Washington
has its way. American attempts to divide and rule Europe might make life
difficult for Europeans but can hardly help Washington in establishing
world hegemony. And the American Achilles' heel remains what it has been
for the past half century, its partisan support of Israel against the
entire Arab world, with the Palestinians being ground in the dust in
their own homeland. For the present, 'old Europe's' attempt
to organise a meeting of the Four (France, Germany, Belgium and
Luxembourg) to plan an independent European defence structure outside
Nato, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, has greater symbolic than
substantive significance. But the crisis in Nato is perhaps terminal
despite its projected expansion into Afghanistan and later Iraq.
Initially, the US ignored Nato in its Afghan invasion and the crisis
over sending Nato assistance to Turkey to guard against Iraqi
retaliation was again a demonstration of the end of a European consensus
with larger American objectives. The political costs
incurred by America in invading Iraq and the prospect of it being mired
there for years are sought to be neutralised by waving the wand of an
America ready to use the demonstration of its will to use military power
to achieve political objectives. But in the Middle East, the US remains
hostage to Israel and all its threats to Iran and Syria cannot win it
the goodwill it seeks in the Arab and Muslim worlds. It is not a matter
of clash of civilisations but a clash between an imperial power seeking
to impose its will on its own, and Israel's, behalf and the better part
of the rest of the world crying for justice and a more equitable sharing
of power.
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