...But sometimes from the smallest crack in a façade come the largest of changes. In this case, the most modest potential "no" from a new Japanese government in Tokyo, concerning U.S. basing posture in that country, seems to have caused near panic in Washington. In neither Europe nor Asia have we felt any political earthquakes -- yet. But just below the surface, the global political tectonic plates are rubbing together, and who knows when, as power on this planet slowly shifts, one of them will slip and suddenly, for better or worse, the whole landscape of power will look different.
Snark apart, this is a very serious comment. We have a Europe.Is.Doomed logo because that story is extraordinarily prominent in English-language media, echoed by other-language imitators and clones.
(Note: the above clip is from TomDispatch, which is pinko commie and doesn't count).
The current row between Tokyo and Washington is no mere "Pacific squall," as Newsweek dismissively described it. After six decades of saying yes to everything the United States has demanded, Japan finally seems on the verge of saying no to something that matters greatly to Washington, and the relationship that Dwight D. Eisenhower once called an "indestructible alliance" is displaying ever more hairline fractures. Worse yet, from the Pentagon's perspective, Japan's resistance might prove infectious -- one major reason why the United States is putting its alliance on the line over the closing of a single antiquated military base and the building of another of dubious strategic value.
What the President did after the NATO summit was also important for the Alliance: He went to Prague for the annual summit with the European Union leadership. That indicated the importance of working with that institution in helping to meet common problems. My only regret is that that summit did not take place at the same place as the NATO summit and the following day, in order to make the linkage even tighter. Only a half dozen added European leaders would have had to travel to Strasbourg, Kehl, or Baden-Baden. Then the President went to Turkey, where he both began the process of repairing damaged US-Turkish relations and made an important speech addressing the Islamic world. Again, here was a step not directly related to NATO but which has had strong resonance in Europe. Along with the president's efforts on the Palestine issue, this also relates to a cardinal requirement in Europe, with its number one internal challenge, the integration of large numbers of Muslim immigrants.
Foreign Policy magazine [US]: Let Europe Be Europe: Why the United States must withdraw from NATO (by Andrew C. Bacevich, March/april 2010)
This pacification of Europe is quite likely to prove irreversible. Yet even if reigniting an affinity for war among the people of, say, Germany and France were possible, why would any sane person even try? Why not allow Europeans to busy themselves with their never-ending European unification project? It keeps them out of mischief. ... Afghanistan provides the most important leading indicator of where Washington's attempt to nurture a muscle-flexing new NATO is heading; it is the decisive test of whether the alliance can handle large-scale, out-of-area missions. And after eight years, the results have been disappointing. Complaints about the courage and commitment of NATO soldiers have been few. Complaints about their limited numbers and the inadequacy of their kit have been legion. An immense complicating factor has been the tendency of national governments to impose restrictions on where and how their forces are permitted to operate. The result has been dysfunction. ... Like Nixon setting out for Beijing, like Sadat flying to Jerusalem, like Reagan deciding that Gorbachev was cut from a different cloth, the United States should dare to do the unthinkable: allow NATO to devolve into a European organization, directed by Europeans to serve European needs, upholding the safety and well-being of a Europe that is whole and free -- and more than able to manage its own affairs.
...
Afghanistan provides the most important leading indicator of where Washington's attempt to nurture a muscle-flexing new NATO is heading; it is the decisive test of whether the alliance can handle large-scale, out-of-area missions. And after eight years, the results have been disappointing. Complaints about the courage and commitment of NATO soldiers have been few. Complaints about their limited numbers and the inadequacy of their kit have been legion. An immense complicating factor has been the tendency of national governments to impose restrictions on where and how their forces are permitted to operate. The result has been dysfunction.
Like Nixon setting out for Beijing, like Sadat flying to Jerusalem, like Reagan deciding that Gorbachev was cut from a different cloth, the United States should dare to do the unthinkable: allow NATO to devolve into a European organization, directed by Europeans to serve European needs, upholding the safety and well-being of a Europe that is whole and free -- and more than able to manage its own affairs.
