February 21, 2005
DEAD-ENDERS:
Three reasons why the US and Europe won't make up: China, Iran and Iraq all loom over Bush's bid to woo the Europeans (Niall Ferguson, February 21, 2005, The Guardian)
[I]t is impossible to escape the suspicion that this mood music conceals fundamental differences on three major international issues.Number one remains Iraq. France and Germany still refuse to allow military personnel to enter Iraq. Any contributions they make to training will take place in countries neighbouring Iraq.
Number two is Iran. The US is intensely suspicious of the recent European deal that elicited promises from Tehran - a "totalitarian" regime, according to Condi Rice - to renounce uranium enrichment in return for assistance with non-military nuclear projects. The European position, as enunciated by the German defence minister last week, is that Iran will "only abandon its nuclear ambitions if _ its legitimate security interests are safeguarded". This does not play well in Washington, where plans were quite recently afoot for air strikes against Iranian nuclear facil ities. At the very least, the US wants to put the case for sanctions against Iran before the UN security council.
The biggest source of tension, however, may relate to China. The Europeans plan to lift the arms embargo imposed in 1989 after Tiananmen Square. The Americans oppose this, but their opposition is a symptom of a deeper suspicion of what Europe is up to in Asia.
What do we have in common with people who remain wedded to Ba'athism, mullahcracy and Communism? And what does their supposed Realism reveal about how little they comprehend the disastrous prospects of these tyrannies? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 21, 2005 4:02 PM
Stupidity this blatant can only come from an Oxbridge-educated limey on the Harvard faculty writing in the Guardian. You can lose IQ points reading this drivel faster than you can lose them drinking grain alcohol straight from the bottle.
Put simply, the EU is not the least bit interested in opening its markets to Chinese products. And that is the linchpin of Ferguson's addlepated idea. The resulting effect on unemployment in Old Europe and even the merest downward pressure could strangle the economies of the new members in their cribs. The EU is in a no growth region and has been for quite some time. Its technology is inferior to that available from the Americans, or for that matter the Japanese and the Israelis. I do not call the invention of a plane that can't land anywhere a great leap forward. The US market is a huge cash cow for China and the sale of all kinds of tchotchskes here makes it possible for the PRC to keep the lid on what could be a massive cauldron of internal rebellion.
And what is in it for China? They could 'prop up' Europe instead of 'propping up' America. Where's the gain? The Europeans may count on residual forms of American racism to give them a free pass for their shenanigans, but the Chinese have no such lever. Better for the Chinese to keep the status quo.
Posted by: Bart at February 22, 2005 7:41 AM