Information Related to "An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Nov/Dec 2002"
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An OverView of Conditions Around the World
America and Europe: Are they drifting apart?
We see a steady growth in tension between various European nations and the United States. According to a Financial Times feature article, the "common enemy" revealed by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, has "divided rather than unified the West."
Published for Americans abroad, the International Herald Tribune expressed the problem from a European point of view. "A brief flurry of support for the United States after the attacks last September evaporated because of what foreign officials consider a dismissive U.S. attitude toward international treaties and coalitions (and) a tendency to view problems through the distorted lens of the war on terrorism." The Financial Times feature countered with "Americans believe that Europeans live in a dream world, made possible by American protection."
Other articles in the Financial Times sought to take a more objective view of the growing transatlantic gap. One said: "September 11 crystallised a profound change in the relationship between Americans and Europeans. The shift - not so much a rupture but a progressive estrangement - was visible in outcome during the decade after the end of the Cold War."
Recently U.S.-EU trade disputes are back in the news as well. Earlier this year steep new American steel tariffs threatened to hit foreign steel fairly hard. Subsequently over the months the United States has tried to ease tensions with the European Union by exempting many products from the tariffs. To date, however, the EU still threatens retaliation.
Difficult-to-solve differences of outlook between America and Europe also arose at the recent Earth Summit conference in Johannesburg. In addition, there have been many difficulties over the new International Criminal Court as the United States seeks bilateral treaties with individual nations to exempt Americans from its presumed jurisdiction.
Michael Ingnatieff of Harvard University recently reminded Europe that "it would be good if Europeans, especially the left, woke up to the reality that they are being defended by Americans, that their core values of freedom are nearly ... identical and that it is neither in their interests nor consonant with their values to let the West fragment into two camps" (Financial Times).
Derek Chollet, formerly of the State Department and now a member of the American Academy in Berlin, spotted this divisive trend months ago. In a feature article for The Los Angeles Times he stated: "Listening to the voices from both sides of the Atlantic, it is easy to think that the United States and Europe are headed for an irreparable break. Whether it's about Ariel Sharon, Saddam Hussein or steel, the U.S. and Europe just can't agree."
Whatever may or may not happen in the short term, Bible prophecy indicates that a coming rift between America and Europe will expand to the point that conditions will once again mirror the mid- and late 1930s, setting the stage for catastrophe. To understand further, please request our free booklets The Book of Revelation Unveiled and The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy. (Sources: Financial Times, The Times (both London), International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, USA Today.)
(back to top)Indications abound that the United States and Israel have struck the same European nerve. Joseph Joffe, editor of Die Ziet in Hamburg, Germany, and an associate of the Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University, made this observation in the September- October issue of Foreign Policy magazine.
He wrote: "Pick a peace-minded demonstration in Europe these days or a publication of the extreme left or right, and you'll find anti-Israel and anti-American resentments side by side ..."
Mr. Joffe further explained that "Israel and the United States are the most successful states in their respective neighborhoods: Israel in the regional arena, the United States on the global beat. They boast the most fearsome armies, they command impressive technological infrastructures, and the Israeli economy vastly outperforms those of each of its neighbors while the United States has the world's number one economy. Moreover, both are stable, vibrant democracies. One need not invoke Dr. Sigmund Freud to infer that success breeds envy and resentment" (emphasis added).
Mr. Joffe also notes that, regrettably, anti-Semitism is also a factor. American columnist William Safire summarized what former German defense minister Rudolph Scharping said in a Berlin cabinet meeting about the discussions: "It was all about the Jews. Bush was motivated to overthrow Saddam by his need to curry favor with what Scharping called 'a powerful - perhaps overly powerful - Jewish lobby' in the coming U.S. elections."
Could these trends portend a future threat to Israel and the United States? While noting that Europeans are largely exchanging the national identities that led to two world wars for a vague European identity, Mr. Joffe reminds us that Europe was "the fountainhead of the two greatest evils of the 20th century," namely fascism and communism. (Sources: Foreign Policy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
(back to top)The Aug. 24 edition of The Economist, based in Britain but published elsewhere as well, took a look at the remarkable demographic differences between the United States and Europe.
Said The Economist: "Forget transatlantic rifts about trade, Iraq, Kyoto, or the International Criminal Court. These have been thoroughly ventilated. One area of difference has not got the attention it deserves: demography. It may prove the most important of all."
According to this report, America will overtake Europe in population by 2040 if not sooner. While U.S. fertility rates suddenly began to reverse their decline in the 1980s, continuing low European levels did not even replace current populations. While immigration fosters even further American growth, immigrants to Europe are necessary just to stay even.
Spending on defense is another point to consider. The United States already spends roughly twice as much as the entire 15-nation European Union. How much more will this be in the future if growth projections are accurate?
There is much more to the story, but one overall statement in an Economist editorial is particularly quotable: "These trends suggest that anyone who assumes the United States is now at the zenith of its economic and political power is making a big mistake." This is something to think about, although a qualifier appears in the next sentence: "There are plenty of other ways in which America could weaken itself economically or politically, but demography will offer a fine basis for future growth and strength." (Source: The Economist.)
(back to top)Bilateral relations between nations don't always mix well with national politics. Germany is a recent case in point.
As soon as Chancellor Gerhard Schröder stated his strong opposition to America's possible decision to wage war on Iraq, his political stock began to rise dramatically within the German electorate. He swiftly overtook his opponent in the opinion polls and won the day over the more-conservative Edmund Stoiber in the September national elections. But his preelection rhetoric alarmed Americans. Germany's justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, went much further, apparently drawing comparisons between President George Bush and Adolf Hitler.
Although she has since said that her comments were misinterpreted and the chancellor apologized to President Bush, U.S.-German relations were damaged. American national security adviser Condoleeza Rice said the "atmosphere had been poisoned."
Germany's Wolfgang Schäublen (a member of the Bundestag and the Christian Democratic Union Party's shadow foreign defense minister) went even further. He wrote in a Wall Street Journal feature: "German-American relations are at their lowest level since the founding of the state in 1949. A common European position on Iraq is also not in sight because Berlin is blocking it, and so Germany finds itself isolated within the European Union. In the meantime, the Chancellor has put Germany in the unenviable position of being Saddam Hussein's favorite western state."
Mr. Schäublen then asked his own country tough questions: "What is wrong with Germany? Are Germans ungrateful? Have they such a short memory that they have forgotten who defended peace and freedom in Berlin in the Cold War and who made it possible for the country to be reunified in peace in freedom in 1990 ?"
Now that the national elections are over, Germany's chancellor has begun to try to repair the damage to his country's relationship with America. First he accepted his justice minister's decision to resign because of her remarks. Mr. Schröder then said: "Between friends there can be factual differences, but they should not be personalized, particularly between allies."
West German (1949-1990) and then German relations with the United States have been remarkably stable for more than 50 years. However, one of the effects of the end of the Cold War has been more-difficult diplomatic relations with Western Europe.
As the saying goes,
you ain't seen nothing yet. Bible prophecy predicts that a future disruption
of monumental proportions will astonish everyone on earth. To learn where these
trends are heading, request our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled.
(Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Financial Times (London), USA
Today, The Wall Street Journal, San Antonio Express-News, The Times-Union (Jacksonville),
The Los Angeles Times.)
"The break-up of Austria's (government) coalition ... was caused by a ruthless purge of moderates from the ranks of Jörg Haider's right-wing Freedom Party and their replacement with hardline ideologues, The Sunday Telegraph has learned."
Our readers may remember the emergence of this Austrian rightist politician just a few years ago. Although he was forced to step down as the leader of the party, Mr. Haider has remained a significant and influential figure both in his country and among the members of the far right in Europe.
Now we read that "Europe's far-right parties have held secret talks at the mountain lair of the Austrian populist politician Jörg Haider to forge a pan-European movement." Prominent among those in attendance were right-wing politicians from Belgium and Italy. Apparently another conference is to occur in Belgium at the end of the year to forge a joint manifesto.
According to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr. Haider "has a clear political agenda to put together a diverse coalition of far-right parties to exert pressure on the European Union."
Unnerving political forces continue to stir on the Continent. This is nothing new; Europe has been restless for 150 years. Twice in the first half of the 20th century extreme movements led to world wars. (Sources: The Sunday Telegraph, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian.)
(back to top)While watching events in Europe should be a constant concern, shouldn't we keep a close eye on the People's Republic of China? True, the United States' main focus is on the twin evils of terrorism and the dictatorial regime in Iraq. Nonetheless our peripheral vision should embrace both Europe and Asia. We have to maintain a worldview of events.
Nationally syndicated
columnist Joseph Perkins summed up the latest Chinese threat by quoting Michael
Ledeen, vice president of the congressionally appointed bipartisan U.S.-China
Security Commission: "We are concerned when we see constant rhetorical
attacks on the United States, constant warnings to the United States, that if
push comes to shove, China is perfectly happy to fight a war against us. And
then to see a strategic doctrine from the
Chinese military that lays out the ways in which they propose to win that war."
America needs to take note of Beijing's aggressive military buildup and periodic warnings about its intentions regarding Taiwan. China desperately wants to expand its influence, viewing the United States as a serious impediment to its growing ambitions in Southeast Asia. According to the U.S.-China Security Commission, the aim of the Chinese military buildup is "to deter, deny or complicate the ability of foreign forces to intervene on Taiwan's behalf."
Columnist Perkins
concludes with this astonishing statement: "Beijing is no less a threat
to the safety of the American people than Osama bin Laden's
terrorists." (Source: The Washington Times.)
Expect to see considerable changes ahead in the European Union (EU). In October the EU announced plans for a major expansion into central and eastern Europe that would add 10 new member countries by 2004, and possibly several more by 2007. The expansion would add 75 million people - most of them living in former communist states - to the EU's current 400 million.
Meanwhile, pressure is growing to appoint a full-time president to replace the EU's current six-month rotating presidency. Notable leaders expressing support for the idea are current and former French presidents Jacques Chirac and Valery Giscard d'Estaing, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and U.K. foreign minister Jack Straw.
One proposal suggested that a president be chosen by member heads of government, while another recommended that the president be elected by the entire European Parliament.
Mr. d'Estaing also raised eyebrows when he floated a proposal to rename the EU "United Europe" or "United States of Europe" to emphasize the EU's growing cooperation.
To better understand where this possible emerging superpower may be heading, please request a copy of our free booklet The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Source: BBC News.)
(back to top)Related Information:
Table of Contents that includes "An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Nov/Dec 2002"
Other Articles by John Ross Schroeder
Origin of article "An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Nov/Dec 2002"
Keywords: United Europe war on terrorism anti-Semitism demography Germany Austria
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