European attitudes reflect a desire that power be shared

Submitted by Marian Hennings (United States), Jan 17, 2003 at 13:43

A poll of European attitudes released last year indicates that the Europeans, like Americans, believe their countries should exert leadership in world affairs. The statements made by Bush and others in his administration that the U.S. will not allow any other superpowers was viewed as arrogant by Europeans, especially by the French and Italians. The Germans, interestingly, are more hesitant about assuming military and economic superpower status, which is probably cause for relief among their neighbors.
Both Americans and Europeans view NATO as still important, but Europeans feel that common problems should be solved jointly, not unilaterally, and they believe that the U.S. should not be the only power making military decisions. Another sore point is the Bush administration's rejection of international agreements on global warming, population limitation, and the international court. The entire poll, a joint American and European project (one sponsor was the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations) makes very interesting reading, and it shows that Europeans and Americans see many issues similarly, but Europeans are not willing to always play second fiddle to the U.S.

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