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indication of this is the pos1tton
taken in foreign policy by Demo–
cratic challenger Jesse Jackson,
who is having an impact upon his
party's future directions.
Mr. Jackson sees the world
through dramatically different
lenses than President Reagan. He
has made repeated references to
America's "obsession with commu–
nism," expanding upon the theme
of the Carter administration, but
carrying it much further.
He has criticized the "Europe–
centr ic" attitude he claims most
U.S. politicians have had, a nd
refers to himself as having grown
up as a "Third World resident in
the First World."
Amerlca Adrift
Former U.S. Secretary of S tate
Henry Kissinger expressed his own
deep concerns over what he called
the "crisis of confidence" in Amer–
ican leadership.
" 1 think we are almost approach–
ing Argentine conditions in foreign
policy," he said, referring to that
nation's notorious deep social and
political divisions.
The United States, he added, is
beginning to look " incapable of
mastering events. And then the
question is, 'Who will emerge, a
serious leader or a demagogue?'"
Reminded that he had warned
against any more "debacles" in for–
eign affairs, he responded, " But
we're headed for more." A "deter–
mined American policy," he added,
could sti ll remedy the slipping situ–
ation- " if there was one."
The very outspoken Briti s h
Member of Parliament, J . Enoch
Powell , was even more blunt in his
assessment of where America fi nds
herself in the world today:
" Huge and powerful still , but
purposeless and ineffectual, the
United States líes wallowing, like
sorne dismasted man-of-war, in the
trough of world events."
lmpact on Europe
Growing U.S. unpredictability in
foreign relations is playing a big
role in the surging "Europessi–
mism" on the Continent. Simply
expressed, Europessimism is a
widespread feeling that the nations
of Europe are henceforth consigned
to a largely irrelevant backwater,
4
especially in the world economic
order. For example, the high-tech
race, it is believed, has largely been
lost to Japan and the United
S tates.
Compounding the negative mood
is the added belief that the United
States is slowly abandoning Europe
as a st rategically defensible part of
the world. The British news weekly
The Economist
put it this way:
"This American presidential
year has shown that Americans are
growing impatient with the anoma–
ly [of spending so mueh money to
defend Europe]. They will grow
more impatient , as economic
opportunities in the Pacific and
political alarms in Central America
turn their eyes westward and south–
ward away from Europe."
The late spring decision on the
part of the government of the
Netherlands to delay by two years
the acceptance of new NATO
cruise missiles for deployment on
Dutch soi l adds to U.S. impatient
concern over the re liabi li ty of
European nations in the alliance.
The Dutch decision plays direct–
ly into the hands of conservative
NATO reformists in the United
States who claim it is further proof
that the Europeans simply are not
willing to hold up their end of the
alliance-so why should the United
States be a part of the alliance any
longer?
The European head-of-state
most publicly concerned over these
developments is France's President
Francois Mitterrand. .He has pro–
posed that an old institution, the
Western European Union, should
be revived, composed of Britain,
France, West Germany, Belgium,
Holland, Italy and Luxembourg.
As a fi rst step, he sees the WEU
serving to eliminate duplicat ion in
the European arms industry. Fur–
ther ahead, it could actually devel–
op into a European military com–
mand.
President Mitterrand is also
attempting to translate Euro–
pessimistic anxiety into political
action. In a vigorous statement of
confidence in Europe's future , Mr.
Mitterrand declared May 24 in
Strasbourg, France, that his coun–
t ry is ready for formal discussions
on a new treaty of European politi–
cal unity.
Addressing a session of the 10-
nation European Parliament, Mr.
Mitterrand warned: "We are again
in a phase when destiny is in t he
balance. For too long we bave been
held back by absurd quarrels."
To move the unity issue off dead
center, Mr. Mitterrand proposed
"prepar atory conversations" Jead–
ing to a "conference of interested
parties" on a new political treaty.
The French president hinted t hat
sorne members of the 10-nation
European Community- implying
Britain- may not be interested in
such a poli tical treaty. But the
thrust of Mr. Mitterrand's speech
was that Europe must move toward
unity despite yearly complaints
over the EC agricultura! budget by
the British.
" l am too confident of our his–
tory to a llow that we cou Id
decline," stresses Mr. Mitterrand.
" But we must not act too late."
Unite-or Perish
In the months and years ahead,
more leaders in Europe are des–
tined to step forth and demand the
same thing that another French–
man, historian Fernand Braudel,
declared: "Unless we can revive the
idea of a United States of Europe,
we won' t be able to rescue Euro–
pean culture, not to mention the
European economy."
And central to such unity is the
development of a common defense
posture--at
first
in close coordina–
tion with that of the United States,
but gradually acquiring greater
independence.
In a practical demonstration of
joint European defense develop–
ment, the French and German gov–
ernments, according to the May 28
Aviation Week and Space Technol–
ogy,
are expected to sign soon a joint
memorandum of understanding for
the development of a new antitank
helicopter. The first flight of a proto–
type could be in 1987, and the first
delivery- to the French military–
cou1d be as early as 1991.
Sorne circles in the United States
are actively encouraging sucb a
development. Columnist William
Safire predicted that "winds of
change" would eventually blow U.S.
military forces home from Europe.
Mr. Safire also foresees "in the com-
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The PLAIN TRUTH