Basic HTML Version
PASTOR
GENERAL'S REPORT,
DECEMBER
30,
1986
PAGE
21
Anxiety about cont inued
U . S .
i n t e r e s t i n Europe...has brought
t h e
European
powers
i n t o closer coope r a t i on
w i t h
one ano t he r .
According t o
a
s t o r y i n
THE WALL
STREET
JOURNAL,
'common
s e c u r i t y fears fo l l owi ng t h e Reagan-Gorbachev meeting i n
I ce l and have
unprecedented
New
European a n x i e t i e s
about
t h e cons t ancy of
U.S.
i n t e r e s t i n
Europe ha s moved. t h e
NATO
a l l i e s
i n t o
a
more
mi l i t a r i s t i c
pos t ur e .
I t
mu s t
be
remembered
t h a t
it
was
on l y a s h o r t
t i m e
ago
t h a t
there
was
a
great
deal
of
f a s h i on a b l e
t a l k
i n Europe--
and no t on l y from t h e ext reme lef t - -about
t h e
d e s i r a b i l i t y of a
world
free
of nuc l ea r weapons. Reykjavik, by p u t t i n g an end
t o
such
t a l k ,
ha s d e l i v e r e d a weighty
blow
t o
Europe ' s
"peace
movement
.
According t o
a
s e n i o r European
o f f i c i a l
,
'The
que s t i on
of
a nuc l ea r - f r ee
world
raises
a
l o t
of
problems--not
f o r t h e Americans and no t f o r t h e So v i e t s , bu t
f i r s t
for
t h e
Europeans."...
The l e s s o n s
of
Reykjavik and
t h e
I r an i an - con t r a
a f f a i r
for
U.S.-European
r e l a t i o n s
are
clear.
So
long
as
t h e Europeans
feel
s e c u r e
about
U . S .
de f ens e
support ,
t h e y
are
a p t t o f i g h t
among themselves ,
be
drawn
t o
an t i - nuc l ea r f a n t a s i e s and i gno r e
t h e i r conven t i ona l defense . On t h e o t h e r hand,
c d
t h e
EuroDeans
are
of
the
U . S . m
the
more
thev
caaaey
The
i s s u e
of ' pu l l i ng
t h e
troops
back
home"
con t i nue s
t o
be
discussed
i n
t op
po l i t i ca l
circles
i n America, o c c a s i on a l l y s u r f a c i ng i n
publ ic
forums
and
debates.
I n t h e
December
1 9
NATIONAL
REVIEW,
a r t i c l e
"Losing Ground
i n Europe,"
Tom
Bethel
wrote:
About
150
people
were
ga t he r ed i n t h e
Harold
R.
Medina
courtroom
of
Columbia
Un i v e r s i t y
Law
School...to hea r
a
debate
between I r v i ng
Kr i s tol ,
co- ed i t or
of
THE
PUBLIC INTEREST
and
professor
of
Social
Thought
a t
New
York
Un i ve r s i t y , and Eugene
Rostow,
former
director
of
t h e
U . S .
Arms
Con t r o l and
Disarmament Agency and S t e r l i n g P r o f e s s o r
of
L aw
a t
Yale
Univers i ty.
The
motion before t h e house
was:
Resolved,
t h a t
t h e United
States
should
q u i t
t h e North A t l a n t i c T r e a t y
Organization....
"I
s h a l l
be
arguing, '
Kr i s t o l
s a i d ,
" t h a t
NATO
over
t h e
past
t e n
years
or
so
ha s
become
an o r s a n i z a t i o n wi t h Pe r ve r s e
or
coun t e rproduc t i ve t endenc i es . W e a'nd t h e Euro e a n s would bo t h
be
better
off
wi t h
an
a l l -Eu r o
Z n
N A ! F 8 8 w & i x
have
f r i e n a l y
relatXZi-s
W i K
t
*-
e
Un
t e r s t a t e s .
I
1p
n o t an
i s o l a t i o n i s t .
I
am
n o t anti-European......
I n h i s response
a t
Columbia, Eugene Rostow
[saidl...,
'It's
hard
for
me
t o
imagine any r eason why
i t ' s
i n t h e American
n a t i o n a l i n t e r e s t
t o
have
a
Europe
so
independent and
so
nuc l ea r , on
its
own
as
a
t h i r d
force,"
he
said.
"That ,
it