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Thursday, December 30, 2010     GET REAL

New Metzler book: Iraq War reshaped thriving post-WWII trans-Atlantic partnership

See the new bookTrans-Atlantic Divide: USA/Euroland rift?”, by WorldTribune.com columnist John Metzler.

“Is Europe’s close political relationship with the USA really over? Hardly, but given the epic political events in Europe itself, from 1989 to the aftermath of the Iraq war in 2003, the ties have fundamentally changed and been redefined. This presents a normal political evolution, not a threat, and certainly an opportunity,” advises a new book reviewing the sometimes troubled Trans-Atlantic relationship.

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Trans-Atlantic Divide: USA/Euroland rift?, by John Metzler, University Press of America, Dec. 16,l 2010.     University Press of America

The EU’s Javier Solana stated the case well; “When it comes to forging partnerships with key states, no task is more urgent than the need to revive the spirit of the Trans-Atlantic cooperation. We must talk less of inevitable clashes in worldviews and put more emphasis on practical cooperation.”

Naturally that’s easier said than done especially in the anguished aftermath of the Anglo/American decision to topple Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein 2003. A vitriolic political standoff over Iraq policy brought severe stress to relations between the Bush Administration and many key European allies, especially France and Germany.

Nonetheless, advises author John J. Metzler, “The classic U.S./European cooperation during the Cold War, something not quite as close as many memories may recall, has passed; there is a new historic phase, a united, democratic, and prosperous Europe. This Europe whole and free is not a strategic antagonist as much as a commercial rival and often a moral Pharisee. But both Europe and America have more to gain by cooperation than by confrontation.” The European rift with Washington which started during the Clinton Administration with disagreements over Balkan policies, widened during the Bush years.


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Moreover the Mainstream media has often magnified transatlantic troubles and underplayed the quiet successes in trade, tourism and culture. With its undulating 24 hour news cycle and a tendency to hype stories, it has highlighted disputes and diplomatic rifts but often has missed the bigger story. On both sides of the Atlantic, the electronic media especially, has encouraged a not so subtle jingoism, which has needlessly widened the gap among Western Europeans and Washington by playing up the political bogeyman of the Bush Administration.

Moreover the Mainstream media has often magnified transatlantic troubles and underplayed the quiet successes in trade, tourism and culture. With its undulating 24 hour news cycle and a tendency to hype stories, it has highlighted disputes and diplomatic rifts but often has missed the bigger story. On both sides of the Atlantic, the electronic media especially, has encouraged a not so subtle jingoism, which has needlessly widened the gap among Western Europeans and Washington by playing up the political bogeyman of the Bush Administration.

Clearly while the Iraq war accelerated a deep political rift between prosperous and self-satisfied Euroland and the USA, the social, commercial and indeed wider political values that bind America and Europe remain stronger.

Contrary to popular myth, two-way trade between the USA and key European trading partners such as France and Germany actually grew despite the ill political winds in 2003-2007. Talk of boycotts to the contrary, American trade with France grew from $46 billion in 2003, to $53 billion in 2004, and $56 billion in 2005. Germany saw even bigger commercial gains; with trade surging from $97 billion in 2003 to $108 billion in 2004, and $119 billion in 2005. These were the core years of the political rift over Iraq.

As former President George W. Bush told a Brussels audience in 2005: “The Alliance of Europe and North America is the main pillar of our security. Our robust trade is one of the engines of the world’s economy.” He added significantly “Our strong friendship is essential to peace and prosperity across the globe. No temporary debate, no passing disagreement of governments, no power on earth will ever divide us.”

“If one foolishly views the entire U.S./European relationship thorough the prism of Iraq, the U.S. had serious challenges; But mortgaging the entire post-WWII Trans-Atlantic partnership on a single policy in Iraq is simply shortsighted,” warns the author.

Even the left-leaning German magazine Der Spiegel curiously compared the unpopularity of the USA during the Bush Presidency with the era of more than a generation ago; when President Ronald Reagan visited Berlin in 1987. “When Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate — and the Berlin Wall — and demanded that Gorbachev ‘tear down this Wall,’ he was lampooned the next day on the editorial pages. He is a dreamer, wrote commentators. Realpolitik looks different.” Yet, history has proven Reagan right.

This rhetorical question, or should one say challenge, confronts many Europeans who are not willing to think outside the traditional confines of rigid status quo politics, and whose self-satisfied political classes are philosophically loathe to accept the enduring optimism of the Americans. While George W. Bush intoned the virtues of freedom like the Greek chorus, many of the comfortable EU city-states choose instead to celebrate the status quo. Though few Europeans will doubt the dangers from dictatorships, be they in the Middle East or East Asia, Americans traditionally assume a far more proactive role in practically doing something about them.

The Trans-Atlantic relationship will continue to be tested and not necessarily within the traditional realm of NATO but of what are described as out of area challenges; Afghanistan, Iran, and Somalia. Surprisingly, even in the immediate aftermath of Iraq, there was far more political and commercial cooperation between the USA and the Europeans, including France and Germany, the two primary antagonists to the Bush Administration. “New pro-American governments in Paris and Berlin, and continuing agreement between Washington and the EU on a wide list of political, commercial and humanitarian issues has had already ushered in a renewed Trans-Atlantic partnership, even before George W. Bush left the White House,” the author stresses.

Trans-Atlantic Divide offers a contrarian and realistic view that stresses key common ground for both sides; “In spite of the unavoidable diplomatic residue following the Iraq war, American relations with Europe

remain unquestionably vital for commercial, cultural and geo-political reasons.”

Trans-Atlantic Divide; The USA/Euroland Rift? by John J. Metzler was published by University Press of America on Dec. 16.



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