One of the flaws in the analysis and reporting around Bush’s trip to Europe - and I am guilty of this too - is the assumption that NATO, the EU, are all one and the same thing: “Europe”. In turn it's also very popular to use the term interchangeably with “France and Germany”.

Timothy Garton Ash, one of the more knowledgeable scholars in this department, reminds us that Europe is still speaking with many different voices and is anything but one unified entity. That may change in the next few years Garton Ash argues, and that may also represent the greatest fear of those that value a strong transatlantic relationship.