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Minister J ean Fran<;ois-Poncet,
"every one of us knew that the real
title was 'Atlantic Disagreements'
and ... we got it."
What several participants de–
scribed as "a growing crisis of
mutual understanding" surfaced in
speeches by two former U.S. cabi–
net members, Henry Kissinger and
James Schlesinger, and West Ger–
many's former chancellor, Helmut
Schmidt.
Mr. Schmidt lashed out at what
he called the "self-contradictory
behavior" of the U.S. government
toward the Soviet Union.
He further warned that
Washington's "egoistic
economic policies" such as
maintaining high interest
rates and running up huge
annual budgetary deficits
could soon ruin thc West–
ern alliance system.
William G. Hyland of
the United States, a spe–
cialist on Soviet affai rs
and a former member of
the U.S. Nat ionaJ Securi–
ty Council, said that Mr.
Schmidt's speech was a
prime example of "the
growing gap between the
United States and Europe
that could end in catastro–
phe."
ret1nng first president, George
Washington.
At this remarkable conference,
said Mr . Fran<;ois-Poncet, there
was "a strange but uncomfortable
feeling of drifting apart between
the United States and Europe. The
mood is bad."
Divorce from America?
The verbal cross fire in Brussels
adds yet more substance to the dan–
gerous feeling, on both sides of the
Atlantic, of "let's go our separate
ways."
Mr. Hyland told the
Europeans that disen–
chantment was also
mounting in the United
States, where one now
hears the argument that
remaining in NATO may
not necessarily be in U.S.
interests. He referred to
an unnamed American
general, one known for
outspoken views, who has
·'Europe, more than any other
continent, is predisposed today to
peaceful cooperation ... because the
economies, cultures and histories
of its peoples are closely intertwined."
taken bets that the United States
will quit NATO by 1990-j ust six
years away- in retaliation to the
Europeans' refusal to "take on" the
Soviet Union.
Mr. Schlesinger, the former
U.S. Defense Secretary, lectured
the European NATO all ies on what
he said was their lack of support of
the alliance. He also said it was
time for the European allies to read
a bit of American history, which
gives a warning against "entangling
all iances"-advice offered to the
fledgling American republic by its
4
Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko
The generally pro-American col–
umnist for the
Sunday Tefegraph
in Britain, Peregrine Worsthorne,
wondered whether the time might
not be ripe for Western Europe to
consider an amicable "early di–
varee" from the United States.
Mr. Worsthorne observed in his
November 13, 1983 column that
there is a " reduction in fear of the
Soviet Union" among West Euro–
peans despite the continuing Soviet
military buildup. The commonly
held view on the Continent is that
the Soviets are having such eco-
nomic difficulties in their own
Eastern bloc that a Warsaw Pact
attack on Western Europe is simply
out of the quest ion.
The· Europeans, Mr. Worsthorne
added, are not nearly as interested,
as is the United States, in combating
communist inroads in Central
America or other parts of the world.
That is Washington's own business,
seems to be the prevailing notion.
Meanwhi le West European nations
might consider reaching "an under–
standing" with the Soviet Union
with regard to Europe's security.
InfluentiaJ ci rcles in the United
States as well are wondering out loud
whether there should not be a new
arder of things. The lack of West
European support over the U.S. mi l–
itary intervention in Grenada is cited
as a prime example of AHied uncon–
cern for U.S. security interests in the
Western Hemisphere.
To make matters worse, the West
Europeans unanimously went along
with a U.N. General Assembly reso–
lution condemning the U.S. action.
"The lesson," fumed
New York
Times
columnist William Safire,
" is that our NATO partncrs are
interested exclusively in ... [be–
ing] protectcd by American troops
and America's nuclear umbrella
while reserving the right to under–
mine American security evcry–
where else. That removes the 'mu–
tual' from mutual defense....
" lf that is the case," continued
Mr. Safire with a surprising pro–
posaJ, "the time is coming for an
independent European defense,
with the U.S. offering for sale the
latest intermediate missiles but not
the renta) of our troops.... 'Way–
ward s isters, depart in peace,'
Horace Greeley told the seceding
states [befare the U.S. Civil War of
1861-1865]."
Drift from Europe, Shift to Asia
Mr. Greeley, it should be noted,
was famous for another piece of
advice: "Go West, young man, go
West." The United States is eco–
nomically and, even ethnically,
"going West."
Influential U.S. business leaders
confidently predict that America's
future is in the Pacific world. Sta–
tistics bear them out. In 1982-83,
for the first time in history, overall
(Continued on page 40)
The PLAIN TRUTH