Does America really want a united Europe?

Does the United States still want a united Europe? There have been signs lately that the Bush administration prefers ‘cherry-picking’ among European countries, in order to make ‘coalitions of the willing’, issue by issue. Is that really in America’s long-term interest? What can Europe do about it?  

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Rob Appleby, English resident in Italy

I'm far from an expert on any of the issues discussed here, and I don't have much substantial to add. But it seems to me that there is a basic assymetry between the US and European voices: one the one hand, a US which believes totally in its ability to go it alone (the extreme of this being the contempt expressed by the guy from Texas), and on the other, a European belief in dialogue and consensus. It may well be true that the many national voices in the EU spend more time talking than acting, but many Europeans believe that the US would benefit from talking more to its neighbours, and restraining to some extent its urge to act. Seen from this side of the Atlantic, recent US foreign policy has been characterised by a marked lack of debate, a consensus has been built on an image of America against the world, and the result has been an overall weakening of international institutions such as the UN which have held out hope of more rational conflict resolution to many smal!
ler countries around the world. Taking immediate military action gives the impression of effectiveness and resolution, but in reality it tends to reinforce and deepen conflict rather than addressing its root causes. Conflicts between nations and cultures are not dogfights that can be stopped by throwing a bucket of water over the dogs, but are rooted in genuine issues which need to be resolved, and this requires dialogue and compromise.
As for the phantom of "Eurabia", it is a dark fantasy that has no basis in reality, but exists only in the minds of those (in Europe and the States) whose view of the world is dominated by fear, or who benefit from promoting such a view.

 

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