Europe's past colors its view

France is perhaps the nation that most loudly voices what Josef Joffe, editor of the German paper 'Die Zeit,' calls Europe's "moral claim" after decades of peace, that "we have overcome war as a policy tool...the most violent continent in history has learned to overcome its conflicts through negotiation, and we see the US as retrograde because it insists on behaving as a nation state."

The problem, Mr. Joffe suggests, is that "we are now in a period when war and violence are back in the picture, and the currency of military force has been re-valued. What Europe can bring to the table, soft power [the influence won through trade, aid and diplomacy] has been devalued."

That, he argues, leads to "resentment of the Americans for doing what Europeans no longer want or dare to do."

Behind that resentment, says Dr. May, lies "a major difference between US and European cultures - the Americans are much more optimistic. If they see a problem that needs solving, they want to go out and solve it."

Europeans, on the other hand, are less likely to feel that "difficult problems can be solved with short-term measures," Dr. May argues. "They fear that American optimism sometimes creates the false illusion that there are easy solutions for very difficult problems." In the Middle East today, he adds, that means that "Europeans are more concerned with the region after a war, while underestimating the threat of weapons of mass destruction."

The overwhelming public opposition to an American invasion of Iraq has not kept some European leaders from backing Washington.

Ten former Communist Eastern European nations said Wednesday that Mr. Powell's speech had convinced them that Iraq was "in material breach" of UN resolutions. Eight other European leaders last week signed an open letter supporting the US. In doing so, they have set them selves sharply apart from Germany and France, in order to underline their alliance with the US.

Hungary, whose premier Peter Medgyessy signed the letter, "wants to be a really loyal member of NATO," says Andras Balogh, a prominent political commentator in Budapest. "Hungary wants to keep cordial relations with the US and the European Union, but the EU has not yet agreed on a common view" on Iraq, he points out.

"The post-Communist countries remember that the US played an instrumental role in

bringing down communism, so they still feel a lot of gratitude," says Mr. Pehe.

The divisions among European governments complicate efforts to bridge the value gap between Europe and America, Pehe suggests.

"It can be overcome only if Europe really unites and speaks with one voice, so that it feels more confident," he says. "A lot of what we see now in Europe is the result of an inferiority complex; they would like to be able to play a more important role, but they haven't been able to get their act together."

That inability, says May, translates into a "cynical" position, that "America, as the only superpower, will take care of governments seeking weapons of mass destruction, but if they do, we will criticize them for unilateral action."

"Europeans will be happy to see the end of Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction, but they don't want to expend the blood and treasure themselves," adds Joffe.

"Call it chicken, or call it moral, but it's a mixture of cold, calculated realpolitik - staying out of harm's way - and keeping the moral superiority of having overcome the atavism of war."

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