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THE BUSH TOUR, CONTINUED
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
THE BUSH TOUR, CONTINUED
Apparently it was a good day at NATO headquarters where the alliance agreed to help train Iraqi forces and on top of that a lot has been made of the earlier Chirac-Bush get together. Even the Belmont Club is optimistic. We need to scratch the surface a little bit here. This recent poll finds that there continues to be deep seated suspicion about the American President and his long-term strategic objectives: A majority of people in eight countries – Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and Canada – said they thought it should not be the U.S. role to spread democracy, AP-Ipsos polls indicates.Now, this could be the result of poor messaging on Bush’s part or skewed questions from AP-Ipsos, but as David Frum (in the National Post this morning) notes the origins of the US-European divide came into being well before Bush took office in 2001: The Bush administration has to begin by understanding that the fundamental cause of the trans-Atlantic rift is the ambition of the leaders of France and Germany to build the diverse countries of Europe into a European super-state dominated by the largest member states, that is themselves. This project is dangerously unpopular with many European voters. To overcome that unpopularity, those leaders have needed to mobilize a countervailing emotion: anti-Americanism. And very little effort is required to feed that emotion. Again, whatever the diplomatic niceties, Europe and America have diverging long term goals. The trick for leaders on both sides of the Atlantic will be to navigate the relationship through these opposing objectives and the political sentiments at home. There surely will be some smooth sailing, but there undoubtedly will be some very rocky spots where the differences will be so glaring as to preclude any form of co-operation. UPDATE: Davids Medienkritik is participating in a pro-American rally in Mainz tomorrow, probably a much needed counterweight to anti-Bush rallies and press commentary that qualifies the Bush tour as "The Emperor Makes a Visit". 
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