Iran: Strait of Hormuz Crisis show US Relationships and Alliances have become detached and cautious of US military adventures, as Germany Balks at U.S. Naval Mission - by Leonid Bershidsky

The matter of a naval mission to the Persian Gulf is a test of whether the U.S. – or at least Donald Trump – has any serious allies in Europe other than, perhaps, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Germany, at least, isn’t on board.

The administration has formally asked Germany, France and the U.K. to join a naval mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz and combat Iranian aggression. In Berlin, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Tamara Sternberg-Greller added a taunt: “Members of the German government have been clear that freedom of navigation should be protected. Our question is, protected by whom?”

Germany wouldn’t take the bait. It has rejected the request. So the answer is: “Not by us.”

There’s little doubt that the U.S. is capable of securing the Strait of Hormuz without any help at all from Europe. But its difficulty in getting such help shows the hollowness at the heart of the transatlantic alliance.

Years of U.S. foreign policy misadventures have made key NATO allies too cautious to get involved even when the U.S. isn’t proposing an all-out war on some distant country but merely an operation to secure a major shipping route from an adversary that is unlikely to take on a broad Western coalition.

Read more: Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Germany Balks at U.S. Naval Mission - Bloomberg

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Greece says NO to austerity demands by Wall Street dominated financial sector and their IMF brainchild

The Greek No Vote has shown the rest of the EU that democracy is what counts and not the dictatorial rule of the Wall Street dominated global financial markets and its brainchild the IMF.

It will hopefully only hasten Europe's need to take a more independent route on a variety of issues, presently controlled by Trans-Atlantic financial and political forces.

Europe must choose for Greece, after all, aren't they one of us?
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Middle East and EU: Diplomatic Fallout: A More Hawkish Europe Gives U.S. Second Thoughts - Richard Gowan

Does the U.S. genuinely want its European allies to police their geopolitical backyard? When it comes to the Syrian crisis, the answer seems to be no. Last week, the Obama administration signaled that it intends to set the diplomatic pace over Syria as the U.S. and Russia announced joint plans for a peace conference. This was not only an accommodating gesture to the Russians—who, as I argued in this column last week, have made immense political capital out of the conflict—but also a setback for Britain and France, which have agitated for a more hawkish Western line, including arming the Syrian rebels.

British and French diplomats have little choice but to go along with the Russo-American proposal. If the conference is a failure, they may argue that it reinforces the case for a more aggressive approach. But regardless of the outcome, they may also reflect on the paradox that while the Obama administration has frequently called for Europe to take more responsibility for its own security, Washington is often nervous about the results.

Throughout President Barack Obama’s first term, senior American officials emphasized the need for Europe to increase its diplomatic and military capabilities. Playing the good cop, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made considerable efforts to boost the European Union’s nascent External Action Service and its oft-criticized foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. Clinton's first counterpart at the Department of Defense, Robert Gates, was the bad cop, making a series of forthright criticisms about Europe’s lack of military clout as he neared retirement in 2011.

More practically, in 2012, the U.S. announced a reduction of its remaining forces in Europe. European officials frequently grumble about Washington’s pivot to Asia, but they accept it as a fact. This was underlined by a major French defense white paper published at the end of April, which warned that the U.S. is becoming more “selective” in its commitments. As the Economist noted, senior French officials “worry that this could touch not just the Sahel and North Africa, but even Egypt and the Middle East.”

Britain, traditionally obsessive about the Atlantic alliance, has responded to the messages coming from the U.S. by deepening defense cooperation with France. Paris and London have also worked in tandem on both Libya and Syria, and the U.K. hastened to assist the French intervention in Mali. This cross-channel diplomacy is peripheral to the great debates inside the EU about austerity and the eurozone and, as I have previously noted, it has sometimes alienated Germany. But it looks very much like the first steps toward the development of the self-sufficient European security agenda the Americans say they want.

There are only two problems with this. First, however effectively they cooperate, European powers are still trapped in a cycle of defense cuts. Their limitations as military crisis managers are likely to increase rather than diminish in the years ahead. Second, the Obama administration seems to think that European diplomatic decision-making in recent crises has been at best erratic and at worst feckless.

Read more: WPR Article | Diplomatic Fallout: A More Hawkish Europe Gives U.S. Second Thoughts

EU-USA: Can Obama rely on Europe? - by Ivan Krastev

Is the European Union willing and capable to preserve the current liberal European order at the moment when Russia has turned her back on the West, Turkey has lost hope of joining the EU and the European periphery lies in shambles?

And would the EU be America's reliable partner outside Europe at a moment when Washington lacks the resources and the appetite to be the global policeman while the world is in constant turmoil?

These are probably the two critical questions that will define President Barack Obama's European agenda during his second term.

The financial crisis has made America feel the limits of her global power. The "D"- word for decline is a four letter-word for any US president. Still, Barack Obama better than his predecessors and his critics realizes the extent to which America's role in the world will be constrained by the size of its huge public debt and by the country's frustrating experience in dealing with post-war engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The crisis has forced Americans to take a closer look at their own country and what they saw was not inspiring. The lead protagonist of the popular TV drama The Newsroom captures this new mood of bitterness and frustration when he reveals that, while America used to talk about itself as the greatest nation in the world, in reality:

"We're seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, fourth in labor force, and fourth in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combine."

So, not surprisingly the US president's efforts will be focused to reform America and not to transform the world.

Read more: Can Obama rely on Europe? | Transatlantic Voices | DW.DE | 17.01.2013

EU-USA: The transatlantic trough

Plagued by deep domestic problems, Barack Obama would love to outsource many international issues to the EU in his second term. The problem is no one knows whether Europe is up to the task, writes Ivan Krastev. 

Is the European Union willing and capable to preserve the current liberal European order at the moment when Russia has turned her back on the West, Turkey has lost hope of joining the EU and the European periphery lies in shambles?

And would the EU be America's reliable partner outside Europe at a moment when Washington lacks the resources and the appetite to be the global policeman while the world is in constant turmoil?

These are probably the two critical questions that will define President Barack Obama's European agenda during his second term.

Read more: The transatlantic trough | Transatlantic Voices | DW.DE | 17.01.2013