IN FAIRNESS TO THE UR...:

Allies everywhere feeling snubbed by President Obama (Robert Kagan, March 17, 2010, Washington Post)

Israelis shouldn't feel that they have been singled out. In Britain, people are talking about the end of the "special relationship" with America and worrying that Obama has no great regard for the British, despite their ongoing sacrifices in Afghanistan. In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy has openly criticized Obama for months (and is finally being rewarded with a private dinner, presumably to mend fences). In Eastern and Central Europe, there has been fear since the administration canceled long-planned missile defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic that the United States may no longer be a reliable guarantor of security. Among top E.U. officials there is consternation that neither the president nor even his Cabinet seems to have time for the European Union's new president, Herman Van Rompuy, who, while less than scintillating, is nevertheless the chosen representative of the post-Lisbon Treaty continent. Europeans in general, while still fond of Obama, have concluded that he is not so fond of them -- despite his six trips to Europe -- and is more of an Asian president.

The Asians, however, are not so sure. Relations with Japan are rocky, mostly because of the actions of the new government in Tokyo but partly because of a perception that the United States can't be counted on for the long term. In India, there are worries that the burgeoning strategic partnership forged in the Bush years has been demoted in the interest of better relations with China. Although the Obama administration promised to demonstrate that the United States "is back" in Asia after the alleged neglect of the Bush years, it has not yet convinced allies that they are the focus of American attention.

U.S. officials have any number of explanations for these concerns: that they are based on misunderstandings, the product of minor errors in execution, simply Bush's fault. By now, however, a moderately self-reflective administration might be asking why so many allies, everywhere, are worried.

...it should be noted that W had gotten rid of most of the leftwing and/or anti-American leaders--Chirac, Chretien, Schroeder, whoever was running Italy last week, etc.--and our allies uniformly have governments that tilt right or no further than center-left. So some tension between an anti-Bush president and these governments was inevitable. [God knows how he screwed up a relationship with Gordon Brown, who htes Tony Blair as much as any American Democrat does.]

It was though our enemies who were supposed to welcome the UR's Advent and he's not doing any better with them than W did.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 17, 2010 12:45 PM