Friday, February 25, 2005
Bush in Europe
the French and a large part of Europe envy and resent the US and its power, just as much as Chiraq does. This will go on. Europe will never play together in any significant way militarily, with the US. And Europe will never build any worthwhile military capacity, given the political, economical and technological limits that Europe faces.NATO´s big idea was to stop the Soviets. It worked, and it is finished. What is left is the girlfriend-like rhetoric, that Steyn points out. I think we will see an environment which is more like pre-WWI, with each larger power playing as best it can in its own interest, and with alliances shifting on a case-by-case basis. E.g., we see that in Lebanon, the US and France are allied to get the Syrians out.
This is probably so. But I think that the further east you go in Europe the more states you will run into that still have the vitality to actively combat Islamo-fascism and fight with the US for democracy as necessary - states like Poland and Ukraine.
But enough about the European trip. Over at ChicagoBoyz, (one of my favorite blogs, for obvious reasons), Mr. Green tells readers that the Administration is pulling a fast one:
Extremely clever of the Bush team to have W in Europe mouthing platitudes, and getting all the press coverage, while Rice and Rumsfeld are laying the foundation for Japan to be a regional and global military player, and checkmating China. But the Chicoms and the NKs are watching. China will be deterred because we are speaking with clarity and we are committing resources and gathering allies. This is all good. This is about hard deterrence and hard capabilities.
"Do Not Watch the Hand that Appears to be Moving," he says. Good advice, too. It seems that, especially in the MSM, the Japan story is conspiculously absent, giving way to this top headline.
Except for neglecting the difference between the torpid "old" and the more vital "new" Europe, Mr. Green makes a good point about the timing and necessity of this step in US-Japanese security co-operation. It's pretty clear that the Administration has its eye on the long-term situation in Asia (read: rising China), which is good, and necessary. What also needs to happen, though, is increased security co-operation with the world's largest democracy. And the sooner, the better.
