The Real Crisis Over the Atlantic

Americans are confronted with a Europe that still has difficulty reconciling goals and means. It speaks ambitiously about its future security forces yet remains incapable of increasing national defense budgets or forging a common foreign policy. Europe is still caught between the dual challenges of globalization and European Union (EU) enlargement, and it cannot define its identity in strictly geographic or institutional terms. Those who have power in Brussels have not yet acquired legitimacy, and those who have legitimacy in the national capitals now have less power. But another Europe is emerging that is much more self-confident, more real, and more successful than the bureaucracy of Brussels. It is a Europe of firms and civil society -- alive, dynamic, and strong. This Europe -- exemplified by the French chairman of Vivendi Universal, Jean-Marie Messier, or the German chief of Bertelsmann, Thomas Middelhoff -- challenges America on its own turf. The two symbolic heroes of modern France, Messier and the antiglobalization activist Jose Bove, neatly portray French ambivalence toward the United States -- a combination of fascination and rejection. This mixture describes not only French feelings but European sensitivities.

Yet the United States has failed to acknowledge this new Europe, just as it failed to forecast (to its detriment) such resounding European successes as Airbus planes. In a world of multiple identities and multiple cultures, Europeans are increasingly aware of their "European-ness." And one way for them to define their identity is to distinguish themselves from the United States. There is a European way to be Western -- a product of history, geography, and culture -- that is based on the weight of memory. By contrast, America is a culture of will. You are an American because you want to be so. Europeans ask themselves how to regenerate their past; Americans still perceive themselves in terms of the future. Even if the "Third Way" sounds artificial in Europe, something real may lurk behind it: a less ideological and more cultural "European" model. Europe's modern form of capitalism is combining flexibility, dynamism, and a humanistic tradition. Europeans are discovering their own "soft power," which comprises a certain quality of life with a natural diversity and creativity. In fact, globalization has accelerated Europe's growing awareness of its unique cards in an interdependent world.

In the early 1970s, European anti-Americanism was a reaction to what the United States did, such as bombing Vietnam or Cambodia. Today's anti-Americanism is a reaction to what the United States is -- a much more perverse form of hostility. Of course, not all Europeans perceive America the way some French do. But the differences between individual European states are only matters of style and nuance. France has moved closer to its European partners in security matters and NATO, while the rest of Europe has moved closer toward French positions on ecological, cultural, and ethical issues. The real differences today exist among western, central, and eastern Europeans.

Enlargement of the EU is also significant for the future of transatlantic relations. Most applicant countries, Poland in particular, understandably feel at least as Western as they do European. NATO reassures them as they face Vladimir Putin's Russia, whereas the EU challenges their recently restored sovereignty. In fact, instead of being considered a Trojan horse, Poles should be welcomed as an ideal bridge to Russia, just as the United Kingdom is Europe's bridge to the United States. (That said, this vision is not yet accepted by either the French or the Poles.)

Today, Americans understand that the long-term stability of the transatlantic relationship requires a more relaxed attitude toward NATO. Washington should allow the Europeans to prove themselves in security matters and wait to see whether their deeds meet their intentions. And Americans should match their words with their actions rather than preaching partnership but acting as a distant and lonely leader.

A strong and confident Europe is the foremost condition for the survival of an Atlantic partnership -- which will be all the more necessary in the complex and difficult years ahead. Working toward a more balanced alliance in a more balanced world should be a common ambition. The more secure Europeans are, the less they will be tempted to assert their differences in an immature, aggressive way. A stronger Europe will mean a stronger NATO, a reality that too many Americans fail to accept. Washington's Europe-watchers tend too often to distrust or underestimate Europe. Too many in Washington still believe that an independent Europe will prove incompetent, paralyzed, and divided, if not ultimately suicidal. By getting their act together, Europeans have to persuade Americans that trust and respect are a two-way street.