Europe Takes Charge

msnbc.msn.com ^ | July 5, 2004 issue | Andrew Moravcsik

[Destro]

Europe Takes Charge

Sure, NATO is relevant. But the real transatlantic work is being done over at the European Union.

By Andrew Moravcsik Newsweek

July 5 issue - Hundreds of thousands of American tourists flock to Ireland every year seeking ruined castles, green fields and friendly folk. On his presidential visit to the Emerald Isle, Ronald Reagan raised a beer in a local pub. Bill Clinton, despite the controversy surrounding his policies on Northern Ireland, was welcomed by cheering crowds. advertisement Not so President George W. Bush. One might have expected him to launch a week of transatlantic diplomacy, starting with the annual EU-U.S. summit on the Emerald Isle, with a popular touch. Yet Bush is now so conspicuously unpopular abroad that even in fervently pro-American Ireland, his presence creates chaos. Thousands of protesters took to the streets. Holed up in remote and romantic Dromoland Castle Hotel outside Shannon, the visiting president was defended by the largest security operation in Irish history. (Quite a distinction in a country that has faced decades of domestic terrorism.) Half the 500 members of the presidential entourage were U.S. Secret Service agents, armed with high-powered weapons, armor-piercing munitions and bombproof cars. All this security for only a couple of hours of actual meetings with EU leaders.

[Pikamax]

I'm reading this thinking, " What coordinated, impressive EU policies is this man talking about" then I get to the end

"Moravcsik teaches government and directs the European Union Center at Harvard University."

and understand.

[conservative in nyc]

On his presidential visit to the Emerald Isle, Ronald Reagan raised a beer in a local pub.

I'm going to repeat this until someone in the lamestream media actually listens: PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS NOT VERY WARMLY RECEIVED BY THE IRISH WHEN HE VISITED IN 1984. MUCH OF THE EUROPEAN PUBLIC HATED HIM. He was a simplistic cowboy bent on bringing war to the world, according to the European appeasment left. They were wrong then. They are wrong now.

You want proof? How about their bible, the New York Times:

Irish in an Anti-Reagan Mood for Visit
By R.W. APPLE Jr.
Special to The New York Times.
June 1, 1984

DUBLIN, May 31 -- President Reagan faces calculated snubs and hostile demonstrations, as well as fonder greetings, during his three-day visit to Ireland beginning Friday.

Reagan Given Big Billing in Ireland, But People's Response Is Lukewarm
By R.W. APPLE Jr.
Special to The New York Times.
June 5, 1984

DUBLIN, June 4 -- Despite all the preparation and ballyhoo, President Reagan's three-day trip to Ireland stirred little public excitement.

As Ireland Visit Ends, 5,000 Protesters March
By PETER T. KILBORN
Special to The New York Times
June 5, 1984

DUBLIN, June 4 -- Five thousand anti-Reagan demonstrators paraded through the meandering, largely treeless streets of central Dublin today, culminating three days of protests against the President's visit to Ireland and his foreign policies, particularly in Central America.

[Maynerd]

Great job. The best part about being a liberal is never having to admit your mistakes.

[endthematrix]

"real transatlantic work" What liberal drivel.

"Yet Bush is now so conspicuously unpopular abroad that even in fervently pro-American Ireland, his presence creates chaos."

If Ireland looks abroad for opinion then to hell with them. They don't understand peace anyway.

"Iraq is too controversial to generate much allied support."

Is this what the EU foreign policy is based?

"In the long term, the quiet diplomacy underlying the EU-U.S. relationship may contribute far more to transatlantic welfare and security than NATO's bickering and bombast. "

Keep the US seat at NATO and ban the EU!

[endthematrix]

I can see this sticks in you craw. How about Clinton and Ireland Viking rapings?

Clinton: "...It has been speculated, half seriously, that there are more foreigners here than at any time since the Vikings pillaged Ireland in the 9th century. (Laughter.) I guess I ought to warn you -- you know, whenever a delegation of Congressmen comes to Ireland they all claim to be Irish -- and in a certain way they all are -- but one of the members of the delegation here, Congressman Hoyer, who has been a great friend of the peace process, is in fact of Viking heritage, descent. (Laughter.) Stand up, Steny. (Applause.) Now, all the rest of us come here and pander to you and tell you we love Ireland because there is so much Irish blood running in our veins. He comes here and says he loves Ireland because there is so much of his blood running in your veins. (Laughter and applause.) ..."

[McGavin999]

Oh yeah, I noticed how important the EU is. At the press conference, nobody even asked Prodi a single question, not even ONE. As much as the europeans are supposed to hate Bush, every question was directed at Dubya. Maybe one was asked of Ahern.

[conservative in nyc]

You don't want to get me started on Clinton. He is, and always will be, part manipulative liar, part buffoon. He certainly didn't need to go to Blarney Castle while in Ireland, if you know what I mean.

You're right that this sticks in my craw. I have no doubt President Reagan hoisted a pint while in Ireland. Unlike President Bush, President Reagan visited Ireland for three days and visited his ancestral hometown. I also have no doubt that the Irish in the pub treated President Reagan with the warmness they treat all visitors to their wonderful country.

What annoys me is that the lamestream media is using these types of articles to serve two purposes: On the obvious level, they're trying to claim that President Bush has been such a bad leader on foreign affairs that even the American-loving Irish hate him. After all, they even warmly greeted President Reagan! More importantly (at least to me), they are trying to debase the Reagan legacy by perpetuating this fiction that President Reagan was just a great communicator who was loved by all in his day. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, President Reagan was a great communicator. But President Reagan's real legacy is that he managed to end the cold war DESPITE the protests of much of the European public, America's liberals, the lamestream media, and the RATS.

[endthematrix]

You have a great eye for reading between the lines! Keep on exposing media lies, you are an asset to FR!

[Bonaparte]

This reporter is either very young with no instruction in history or has a very poor memory. Europeans had truly massive protests against President Reagan. They actually rioted. This leftist Irish rally against Bush is nothing in comparison.

If you preach freedom in Europe, bring a bodyguard.

[conservative in nyc]

This reporter is either very young with no instruction in history or has a very poor memory.

Worse. This 'reporter' "teaches government and directs the European Union Center at Harvard University." He's indoctrinating our young adults with this revisionist history nonsense.

[Bonaparte]

That does put an altogether different complexion on it.

[shrinkermd]

Moravcsik teaches government and directs the European Union Center at Harvard University.

Deductive political conclusions not based on inductive reasoning or fact seems to be the liberal operating guiding principal. What seems to bother Harvard professors (most of them anyway) and Europeans is that President Bush expreses foreign affairs within the context of "moral certainty." Harvarders and Europeans hate this since their favorite word is "nuanced."

IMHO, regardless of the professor's claims, the EU is a currency in search of a country.

[hang 'em]

People seduced by the religion of Socialism are the most deranged.

They start out with Catholicism or Baptism, or whatever… and their parents try to BEAT THE SHIT INTO THEM this ideology.
IT DOESN'T WORK. (how do I know this? I married two of these beyoXXXches.

[tjwmason]

I'm reading this thinking, " What coordinated, impressive EU policies is this man talking about"

Surely you remember the only major foray into foreign affairs that the E.U. has made. It was the E.U. which dealt with the collapse of Yugoslavia. I think that it was the then German Foreign Minister who same something to the effect of "If Europe cannot solve the Yugoslav problem, it cannot solve anything". As we all know the European policy in the Balkans was a great success. Such a great success that NATO (with all of its 'bickering and bombast'). had to step in and sort things out.

This man is living in la la land. I live in the European Union (though I heartily support British withdrawal), I have studied European Integration Studes, what is absolutely clear is that the idea that there will be a coherent Common Foreign and Security Policy is a pipe-dream (or rather a nightmare).

The article was a thinly veiled attack of President Bush, and a pile of half-truths about what seems likely to become the world's largest 'failed state' in under 50 years (the E.U.).

[kaylar]

The new EU global positioning system, Galileo, will be coordinated with the existing American system, GPS, so that they are interoperable, frequencies do not clash and military security is not compromised

And until quite recently the plan was for Galileo to use a competing frequency-why? So the EU would have a de facto veto over the US's use of its own military. They thought they could make a GPS system that could so interfere with our own military's GPS, that we'd have to ask them for permission to engage in hostilies. And if permission was refused, Galileo would play havoc with our military's use of GPS. It wasn't just for financial reasons that the EU went out of its way to bring China onto the Galileo project, which was touted at the beginning as an exclusively European project. The whole thing was purely anti US. And this switch, which this article mentions in passing and of which I've heard very little elsewhere, is one of the most important pieces of news in quite awhile. I wonder what promises/threats were made?