As Max mentioned, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced France’s new defense policy and it represents an historic departure. Despite the chorus telling us that the last eight years have driven a wedge between the U.S. and Europe, Sarkozy wants to cuddle. France will be an active part of NATO’s command structure for the first time since Charles de Gaulle turned his back on the transatlantic alliance in 1966.
In the end, it’s Europe that has to do something about its go-it-alone attitude. With American operations in Iraq meeting greater success and with Muslim integration in Europe proving evermore challenging, savvy European leaders know whose post-9/11 model they need to follow in both civil and military affairs. The truth is, the only way George W. Bush could have destroyed U.S.-Europe relations would have been to broadcast American weakness in a free world under threat. Wild West bluster was not about to affect Europe’s opinion of America in any meaningful way. That would always be determined by economic and military realities.
Max already pointed out that France’s Lenten military spending furthers the case for European irrelevance. There are other militaries on the rise — such as China’s and Russia’s — but those countries aren’t in the habit of stepping in to protect friends and defend freedoms. The Washington Post speaks of Sarkozy’s policy as a post-Cold War one, but the truth is Europe has long neglected their military duties knowing full well America was there to pick up the slack. Whether it’s the Cold War or the War on Terror, and whether the force wears NATO armbands or UN blue helmets, it’s the U.S. that does the heavy lifting. Susan Sarandon may flee to the continent if McCain becomes president, but if Iranian bombs fall anywhere near her villa, it will be the U.S. commander-in-chief who gives the orders to stop it.
Sarkozy has proved himself an admirable leader and reliable friend of the U.S. He, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, and Silvio Berlusconi are part of a wave of European heads of state who unabashedly cop to appreciating American strength. If only Democrats could be so honest.
