Airstrip One

Changing European Assumptions of the United States

Many of the postwar, staunch allies of the United States have appeared sceptical and estranged from their principal ally over the last few years. The vote from NATO, invoking article 5, where an attack on one was an attack on all, was supposed to demonstrate support for the 'war on terror' through the longstanding structures of the United States alliance with nation-states on the European continent. Yet the last year has only exacerbated the divisions that had been slowly coming to the fore since the end of the Cold War.

The historical explanation for these actions lies in the multilateral structure of the alliance mediated through NATO where powers were constrained to find a consensus before they could act and led European countries to expect such a process of consultation and co-operation to continue in the long-term. The shift in the security policy of the US towards a greater unilateralism and an objective of maintaining its military dominance over all possible rivals has discomfited their expected role.

Some of the blame lies with many European countries for dismantling their security apparatus to such an extent that they were no longer able to play a fruitful role in the military expeditions required by the current 'war on terror'. However, greater attention to diplomatic detail on the part of the Bush administration could have played a part in defusing rather than exacerbating the current tensions within these relationships.

The management and maintenance of diplomatic relationships and the construction of alliances remain great weaknesses for the Bush administration, since these skills are discounted in favour of deploying military force, under the contemporary terroristic pressures. It also contributes to the more public tensions between the State Department and the Department of Defense.

European countries are less well-placed to react to the threats that affect their periphery. On issues like unstable states acquiring missiles that threaten them, utilising weapons of mass destruction, they remain curiously silent, neither entering into debate, nor recognising that these could be used against them. They have not made a proper and public recognition of the political and security measures required to maintain peace.

Since these threats do exist and, especially near Europe's borders, there will come a time, in the not too distant future, when their electorates will link security with greater defence spending, missile defences and (possibly) closer ties with the United States.The two themes that those who argue that European states and the United States are drifting apart tend to neglect are that 1) their economies become more closely intertwined every year and; 2) both face the same threat.