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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 22, 1985
In a 1984 speech, for instance, Gorbachev noted the erosion
of the position of the United States in comparison to "new
centers of power, above all Western Europe and Japan."•••
One important indication of this new accent on Europe is
Gorbachev's decision to visit France before the summit
meeting with President Reagan•••• [This] should•••be seen as
part of a wider campaign to woo Western Europe and exploit
differences in the Atlantic Alliance over the Strategic
Defense Initiative.
French President Francois Mitterrand
has expressed strong reservations about SDI, as have Italy's
Prime Minister Bettino Craxi and West Germany's former
Chancellor Willy Brandt, two Western leaders recently in
Moscow. Moreover, during Craxi's visit, Gorbachev showed a
new flexibility toward relations with the European
Community, and even expressed tacit recognition of its
political role.
Europe: Unity Through Weaponry Meanwhile, unknown to most Americans
is the extent to which the nations of Western Europe are unifying their
defense manufacturing industries. As a result the U.S. is slipping as
the main supplier of weapons to NATO as a whole. At one time NATO arms
trade across the Atlantic favored the U.S. nine-to-one. Now the ratio
is down to the three-to-one range. Defense experts even envisage the
day when Europeans will sell more to the U.S. in arms than they
purchase. Some believe the U.S. may well have already seen the last of
its big sales to Europe of warplanes, helicopters and battlefield
rockets.
The reason for all this is greater cooperation among European NATO
partners to joi-ntly produce weapons, thus achieving the economy of
scale. In August, for example, four European nations--Britain, Italy,
Spain and West Germany--agreed to jointly develop and buy (for about
$25 billion) a new European jet fighter plane. American officials have
cautiously applauded the joint development efforts. They could not do
otherwise, since Washington has carped for years that the Europeans
were not doing enough in defense matters. But U.S. defense contractors
are worried over the potential loss of business. They also point out
the negative impact the loss of sales will have on America's balance of
trade. Meanwhile--and this is perhaps the most significant factor--the
November 8 WALL STREET JOURNAL, paraphrasing a Dutch diplomat, says
that
".QY
the year 2000, Europe hopes to have an alternative to nearly
every major U.S. weapon system used in Europe."
Taz Increase Inevitable for 1986? A footnote to the u.s.-soviet summit
is the tragicomic situation which prevailed in Congress just prior to
the President's departure for the summit. At the last minute, so as
not to embarrass President Reagan in Geneva, both the Senate and the
House of Representatives agreed to a temporary funding measure to
prevent the government's checks from bouncing. The battle over the
budget will resume upon the President's return.
It now looks more
likely, however, that Mr. Reagan has lost the battle. Five years ago,
he had great expectations that "Reaganomics" would work, that tax cuts
would stimulate the economy, more than making up for the decreased tax
rates, plus producing additional funds for a beefed-up defense budget.
The key to it all was his ability to get Congress, specifically the
Democrat-controlled House, which holds the purse strings, to cut