NATO 2006 – Global dilution / EU-US decoupling: NATO faced to a loss of confidence in US leadership

Newropeans Magazine

"NATO 2006 – Global dilution / EU-US decoupling: NATO faced to a loss of confidence in US leadership
Written by LEAP/E2020
Tuesday, 22 August 2006
Excerpt of GlobalEurope Anticipation N°4 (April 15th 2006)

In Europe, the loss of confidence is significant and durable. Besides the general feeling that the US are losing influence (78% of the people surveyed in this month’s GlobalEurometre share this conviction), Iraq (now involved in a civil war) provides a daily illustration of the deadlock where the first global power has managed to stuck itself and its faithful allies.

Besides the fact that the most active form of the initial opposition to Iraq’s invasion came from Europe (France, Germany, Belgium), it is clear that all European forces first involved next to Washington and London (Spain, The Netherlands, Poland, and soon Italy) have progressively pulled out. Given the pain experienced due to Iraq (on the field as much as in terms of domestic politics), it is highly improbable that European governments will support any future US military adventure, unless their countries are under direct threat. We shall come back on this aspect in the third part of the present paper, but threat perception is less and less convergent between the EU and the US."