USA And The Future Of The World

[acharya]

Netzeitung.de, Germany
<b>Barack Can’t Become Britney</b>

<b>The “As-If” Strategists </b>
<i>Had NATO agreed to bring Georgia into NATO next spring as the Bush administration wanted, this would not have reduced Russian pressure on Georgia but would have greatly increased it without leaving the West with any realistic counter options.</i><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->But even the best strategy can fail if the Europeans remain fragmented. Then Moscow still holds the trump cards, it can choose the allies it wants, and play one country off against the other. If it stays that way, the next crisis will also remain caught in the “As If” strategy.

Unfortunately, the probability for that scenario is high. In its reaction to the Georgia crisis, the division between the “new” and the “old” Europe that Donald Rumsfeld referred to during the Iraq War was obvious.When will the nations of old Europe – Germany, France, Italy – finally learn that they may ask for economic advantages from Russia but can have no influence on regulatory policy because they, in themselves, lack the political weight to do so? When will the nations of new Europe – Poland and the Baltic States – recognize that they might hinder a European consensus but can’t prevent old Europe from making deals with Russia without them?
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