Does America Want an Independent Europe?

The European Council on Foreign Relations has an interesting report out today on the European-U.S. partnership. In it, the authors Jeremy Shapiro and Nick Witney argue that Europe is wasting the "Obama moment":

The US no longer dominates the world as the sole superpower. It knows it must turn to China on the economy and Russia on nuclear disarmament. Yet Europeans remain in denial about how the world is changing. They make a fetish out of the transatlantic relationship, anxiously pursuing harmony for harmony's sake without questioning what it is good for.

The mistaken belief of most European nations - not just the obvious Atlanticists like the UK and the Netherlands - that they have a ‘special relationship' with the US further distorts the transatlantic dialogue. These member states deploy different strategies to ingratiate themselves with Washington in a competition for American favour, believing that this works better for them than any collective European approach. The result is a frustrated US and an impotent Europe: Europe has 30,000 troops in Afghanistan yet virtually no say in strategy.

The truth is, the US would prefer a more united EU, but expects so little that it cannot bring itself to greatly care. When the EU is hard-headed, as with trade negotiations, the US listens. When it is not, Europeans are asking to be divided and ruled.

For Europe to become a credible and strategic partner for the US, Europeans need to shift their political psychology away from fetishising the transatlantic relationship. European governments need to get over the mistaken belief that their individual ‘special relationships' matter in Washington, and learn instead to act together and speak to the US with one voice.

From the European side, I can see the authors' frustrations. But I wonder just how much the U.S. wants a "united EU." Take the point on Afghanistan. What if a united EU wanted its troops out of Afghanistan immediately? The point on trade is also apt - is Washington necessarily pleased that Europe is driving a hard bargain when it stalls trade negotiations?

America's strategy for decades now has been to nurture strategic dependencies - in Europe first and foremost. A Europe with a greater capacity for independent action might be a more effective partner, but it is also a Europe that will almost certainly challenge Washington more directly. I suspect that for all the talk of wanting the EU to be a more capable and serious ally, the U.S. still prefers a (somewhat) pliable client.

This is an issue that is going to increasingly define America's relationship with both Europe and Asia - not simply how to encourage them to be more effective international players, but whether that is even a desirable goal.

(AP Photos)