“It is time to stop pretending that Europeans and Americans share a common view of the world, or even that they occupy the same world” (Robert Kagan, Power and Weakness). Discuss.

Extraits de l'exposé

[...] But more importantly, he underplays the obvious fact that relative weakness can be strength, if the weaker can withhold something which the stronger wants. A recent example is the Iraqi crisis; the U.S assumed that the Iraqi would act as the U.S wished. But rebellions and desperate ?acts of war, terrorism or revenge? are numerous. As a result, the Pentagon is now thinking about speeding up the ?Iraqification? and hastening the transition to Iraqi sovereignty for fear of Iraqi public opinion and its possible support of the Islamic fundamentalism. [...]

[...] Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and the German Marshall Funds of the United States, ?European Public Opinion and Foreign Policy', www.worldviews.org. Makins Christopher J ?Power And Weakness' or Challenge And Response ? October, http://www.gmfus.org/apps/gmf/gmfwebfinal.nsf, p.6. Howorth Jolyon The European Union and national defence policy, Jolyon Howorth and Anand Menon, p.10. ESDI CESDP Duke Simon ?CESDP : Nice's overtrumped Success ?', European Foreign Affairs Review, No p Blinken Anthony J false crisis over the Atlantic', Foreign Affairs, vol No May/June, p Kagan Robert Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order, Atlantic Books, pp Gordon Philip H ?Bridging the Atlantic Divide', Foreign Affairs, vol No.1, January/February, pp Blinken Anthony J false crisis over the Atlantic', Foreign Affairs, vol No May/June, pp Kagan Robert ?Power and Weakness', Policy Review, June/July, p Daalder Ivo H., 2003,?The End of Atlanticism', Survival, vol No Summer, p. [...]

[...] But the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union two years later resulted in the exacerbation of inherent cultural divergences between the two continents. As the predominant global power, the United States seeks to maintain its position through the Hobbesian (Hobbes's characterization of the international sphere being the nearest analogue to the state of nature, he has made his name synonymous with the doctrines of Realism and Reason of State.)[5] use of force in combating perceived threats such as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and states. [...]

[...] Philippart Eric Ever closer partnership policy-making in US-EU relations, Eric Philippart & Pascaline Winand (eds.). Articles and Reviews : Baker Gerard ?NATO's welcome imbalance in military might', Financial Times February. Blinken Anthony J false crisis over the Atlantic', Foreign Affairs, vol No May/June. Cooper Robert Post-Modern State and the World Order', The Foreign Policy Center. Daalder Ivo H End of Atlanticism', Survival, vol No summer. Duke Simon ?CESDP : Nice's overtrumped Success ?', European Foreign Affairs Review, No Gordon Philip H ?Bridging the Atlantic Divide', Foreign Affairs, vol No.1, January/February. [...]

[...] The French and Italians are particularly supportive of the EU becoming a superpower, with 91% and 76% of respondents, respectively, and even the Germans, traditionally seen as pacifistic, are 48% in favour of it. By overwhelming margins, Europeans do not view a strong European Union as a competitor to the United States but as a power cooperating more effectively with the United States in dealing with international problems. Despite the common view that Europe is an economic giant but a military dwarf that cannot intervene in its own backyard, there is a growing willingness of Europeans governments to engage their strategic responsibility outside Europe as for instance the recent intervention in Afghanistan. [...]