With American-European relations strained over the matter of disarming Iraq, the alliance of opposing countries, France, Germany, Belgium and Russia began taking important steps with regards to Europe’s defense.
At the same time, American diplomacy, intent on causing a rift in Europe, sought to lure European countries looking for economic or financial assistance. This came at a time when the European Union was attempting to create a United States of Europe by widening its base from 15 to 25 member states.
American and Europeans have differing viewpoints with regards to international relations, especially when it comes to significant strategic issues such as weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), the Arab-Israeli conflict, Gulf oil supplies and the international war on terrorism.
Their approaches to the resolution of these issues also differ in that Americans believe in armed force and Europeans realize that diplomacy should be at the forefront of their efforts.
These differences in policy visions between the two sides of the Atlantic, in addition to acute economic conflicts boiling under the surface and European preparations for a “united states of Europe,” have caused Europe to revert back to the theme of liberation from American hegemony.
The decision was thus taken in Brussels on April 29, 2003 to create an independent military command for European defense outside NATO’s ambit, to be called “The European Security and Defense Union (ESDU).” The resolution that created this alliance stipulates the creation of (a) a unified military command (b) unified operative forces under the designation “European Rapid Reaction Force” and (c) a European agency for development and acquisition of military capabilities. The ESDU would be open to all the current and future member states that are ready to join.
The idea of an independent European defense mechanism and extrication from the burden of the American military are not new ideas, nor are they the result of differences that have been previously enumerated.
French President de Gaulle was the first to call for an independent European defense mechanism when in the 1960s he proposed that Germany be included in the French nuclear umbrella against the Soviet Union and that America be excluded. Then German Chancellor Conrad Adenauer would not yield to de Gaulle’s request.
The idea popped up again later and resulted in a Western European alliance based on security and intelligence cooperation. In the 1990s the idea was further developed when some Europeans officially agreed to a French-Italian-Spanish proposal for the creation of a European rapid reaction force. Strong American opposition ensured that this proposal never saw the light of day.
At the end of the 1990s the idea emerged strongly under the heading “the European leg of the NATO alliance.” The American administration at the time did not object. President Clinton was convinced of the need to ease the burden of European defense from the American budget.
Everything changed, however, with the current administration. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, in a meeting in Munich on February 2001, rejected the idea and said that he would never allow anything like it.
It seems however that the European states are insistent on getting out of American custody. This is a necessity if the EU is truly to work for a united states of Europe. Europeans are of the opinion that Russia, which has become an active part of the EU, is no longer a threat to European security, while American economic greed is.
If things develop along this line, will it mean the end of NATO as an international alliance and its transformation into a regional European organization only?
It appears that Washington expects something of the sort, and that is why it allowed Israel to become a nuclear power with international influence.
Arab News Opinion 7 July 2003
