Our Envoy To Europe
Will It Do Any Good?
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Apparently in a follow-up to Condoleezza Rice's week-long diplomatic trip to Europe earlier this month, Bush too will be trying to mend European-American relations. On the outside, this looks like a great plan. First stunning the European leaders with Rice's eloquence, then having the president himself do some diplomacy. Bush will visit Brussels, speak to Putin, Chirac, Schroeder, Blair, and others. Although diplomacy is never a bad thing, we don't know if this will work.
Europe and America have two entirely different cultures. One is staunchly liberal and socialist, while the other is more focused on faith, family, and freedom. The two cultures also look at each other in much different ways. To Europeans, Americans are a Bible-thumping, war-mongering, arrogant, ignorant, and rash bunch. To Americans, Europeans are lily-livered, weak-willed degenerates. No amount of diplomacy in Bush's second term can do anything to close this ever widening cultural rift. The effects of this trip will be confined to the governments themselves, many of which might not have the same leaders in another 5 years, and it will not affect the actual populaces' viewpoints.
However, these leaders may not even be affected by our envoy to Europe. Do you actually think Jacques Chirac will listen to Bush with an open mind? Bush's pleas of mending fences will fall on the deaf ears of Europe's diplomats and dignitaries. Only Blair and perhaps Berlusconi will listen to Bush, but they are not the ones we need to mend fences with. France, Spain, and Germany are the ones we most need to work with, but they will most likely just nod their heads to what Bush says and forget they ever had the talks a week from now.
In addition to the above reasons, our goals in this trip are not easy to achieve. The main focus will be on Iran, climate control and global warming, and arms sales to China. Europe will not budge on Iran no matter how persuasive their American counterparts are. Their goal is clear: "do not let Iran get nuclear weapons, but if they do, oh well." Global warming is an issue the US will not change their minds about. It is obvious that Bush will never sign the Kyoto Protocol, much to the displeasure of Europe. As for arms sales to China, we well know that European governments will go where the money is, and if that means selling weapons to China, so be it.
Sadly, this ambitious and well-intentioned trip to Europe may not go as well as we hoped. There are much too big of disagreements between the two cultures for one trip to fix. Europe's leaders probably won't heed what Bush says, either. And, finally, the issues are of too large a scale for the two powers to unite on. We can still hope for the best. We can still hope that Europe and America will reconcile. What can we do but hope?
Europe and America have two entirely different cultures. One is staunchly liberal and socialist, while the other is more focused on faith, family, and freedom. The two cultures also look at each other in much different ways. To Europeans, Americans are a Bible-thumping, war-mongering, arrogant, ignorant, and rash bunch. To Americans, Europeans are lily-livered, weak-willed degenerates. No amount of diplomacy in Bush's second term can do anything to close this ever widening cultural rift. The effects of this trip will be confined to the governments themselves, many of which might not have the same leaders in another 5 years, and it will not affect the actual populaces' viewpoints.
However, these leaders may not even be affected by our envoy to Europe. Do you actually think Jacques Chirac will listen to Bush with an open mind? Bush's pleas of mending fences will fall on the deaf ears of Europe's diplomats and dignitaries. Only Blair and perhaps Berlusconi will listen to Bush, but they are not the ones we need to mend fences with. France, Spain, and Germany are the ones we most need to work with, but they will most likely just nod their heads to what Bush says and forget they ever had the talks a week from now.
In addition to the above reasons, our goals in this trip are not easy to achieve. The main focus will be on Iran, climate control and global warming, and arms sales to China. Europe will not budge on Iran no matter how persuasive their American counterparts are. Their goal is clear: "do not let Iran get nuclear weapons, but if they do, oh well." Global warming is an issue the US will not change their minds about. It is obvious that Bush will never sign the Kyoto Protocol, much to the displeasure of Europe. As for arms sales to China, we well know that European governments will go where the money is, and if that means selling weapons to China, so be it.
Sadly, this ambitious and well-intentioned trip to Europe may not go as well as we hoped. There are much too big of disagreements between the two cultures for one trip to fix. Europe's leaders probably won't heed what Bush says, either. And, finally, the issues are of too large a scale for the two powers to unite on. We can still hope for the best. We can still hope that Europe and America will reconcile. What can we do but hope?
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