What Europe Wants

An article on Winning Back Europe's Heart was in the NY Times yesterday. It caught my eye because Donica left yesterday for her long 3-1/2 month stint in Germany. She'll come back after a month for a week here in her stateside office before we go back together for the duration. You can't be in Germany/Europe without questioning how we Americans are viewed these days of political unrest.

So I read with great interest each of the following 8 responses:

1. Austria: Start No new wars.
2. Ireland: Give more for AIDS and poverty in Africa (this from Bono!).
3. Slovakia: Be true to your convictions.
4. England: Be concerned about the rogue dollar.
5. Germany: Create a UN seat for Europe as a whole entity.
6. Italy: Address the European Union as "all for one."
7. France: Renovate NATO for everyone.
8. Switzerland: Listen to the European street people.

Today in Brussels President Bush is expected "to make clear that the United States welcomes the drive toward European unity and views the 25-member European Union, with an economy roughly equal to that of the United States, as a partner, not a rival."

"But it will take a lot of hard work to undo the damage of these [past] four years. Banquets and speeches about shared histories are good, but Iraq, Iran, Syria, North Korea, China, Africa and a host of other places need joint attention." Because the US is already overly-stretched militarily in Iraq, the Europeans "believe they have a window to advocate the "soft power" they favor in resolving conflicts."

Wouldn't THAT be nice!