In search of a leader to mend trans-Atlantic ties

America’s dazzling July 4 celebrations offer a mirror to Europeans. On that day 238 years ago, the Founding Fathers rejected the old world while bringing its Enlightenment to life. Over more than two centuries, the United States has served as Europe’s beacon, as its saviour (twice) and as the guarantor of its freedom. The new world rescued the old, then joined hands with it in partnership.

There is perhaps nothing in history that can rival the success of the trans-Atlantic alliance. Yet its best days seem to be behind it. What began with a bang — the end of World War II and the onset of the Cold War — is threatening to wind down with a whimper.

Today, the US and Europe are united chiefly in drift. On paper, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is still the world’s most formidable military alliance. In practice, it is a talking shop dominated by a giant that is too tired to lead. Having failed to accomplish its mission in Afghanistan, NATO is now in energy-saving mode, the Russian wolf at its door notwithstanding.

If anything, the European Union is even more atrophied. Having muddled through the worst economic times in a generation, the people of Europe in May gave a middle finger to their common project. From France to the United Kingdom, anti-EU voices prevailed. Normal business was not disrupted, however. If the answer to Europe’s leadership crisis is Mr Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission, one has to wonder about the question. It is hard to imagine him leading the charge to revive trans-Atlantic ties.

SHARING THE BLAME

There is no single episode that captures the drift. It has many parts. Blame can liberally be shared on both sides of the Atlantic.

Mr Henry Kissinger famously wondered whom to call when you wanted to talk to Europe. The answer has been obvious for years: Ms Angela Merkel, Germany’s pro-American Chancellor. Nowadays, Germans might paraphrase that to ask whose phone Americans most want to tap.

Last Friday — July 4, of all days — Berlin summoned the US Ambassador to Germany for a dressing-down over the latest spying revelation (a German intelligence officer has allegedly been selling secrets to the Central Intelligence Agency). The previous week, the German government ended its contract with Verizon, the US phone company, over concerns it would pass on sensitive data to America’s National Security Agency (NSA).

Underlying it all is a deep German resentment — underappreciated in Washington — over the NSA’s scope. These included the revelation that the Americans had been eavesdropping on Ms Merkel for years. In Washington, Edward Snowden is viewed as a traitor. In Germany, he is something of a cult hero. Either way, it is little use knowing which number to call if the recipient keeps hanging up.

Europe’s other big powers — France and the UK — are barely worth ringing. Prime Minister David Cameron is too preoccupied with keeping Britain intact and within the EU. Mr Francois Hollande is the weakest President in France’s modern history.

None of this can be blamed on US President Barack Obama. If Europe chooses to elect — and appoint — sub-standard leaders, Washington can hardly object.

Yet Mr Obama is also part of the problem. There was a time when America’s word carried unrivalled weight in Europe. Last month, Mr Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s Atlanticist Foreign Minister, described the US-Poland alliance as “worthless”. He has since apologised for the leaked remarks. But he was only giving voice to a common sentiment in Europe.

HOW MODEST FRICTIONS ADD UP

Without US leadership, the trans-Atlantic alliance will not spring back to life. To his credit, Mr Obama last year helped launch the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) — the biggest common project between the two continents. At a time when the US is pivoting to Asia, the deal would act as a global template for how countries should trade and do business. It would also underline the strategic unity of the West.

Today, the TTIP threatens to become a showcase for how little the continents can agree on. Mr Obama seems uninterested in doing what it takes to clinch a deal — getting fast-track negotiating authority from Congress and selling the deal to the US public.

In Europe, initial enthusiasm has been replaced with a sullen appetite to find points of difference, whether it be data privacy, financial regulation or food standards. In Germany, the shift in sentiment can be pinned on the rolling NSA scandal. In France, it is America’s perceived extraterritorial arrogance.

Last week, US regulatory agencies fined BNP Paribas, France’s dominant bank, the equivalent of one year’s worth of profits — almost US$9 billion (S$11 billion). The bank had colluded to circumvent US sanctions on Sudan, Cuba and others. Other European targets of large US penalties, such as Barclays, Standard Chartered and HSBC, were also guilty. But it has fed into a perception that the US is happy to target foreign banks.

In themselves, each of the frictions — declining European military budgets, perceived US arrogance, stalled trade talks and disunity over Ukraine — is relatively modest. Together, they add up to trans-Atlantic atrophy. Friendships need to be kept in good repair. The West needs more than common values to keep itself united. It desperately needs leadership. At this precarious juncture in history, when the rest is rapidly catching up with the West, it is hard to see where that will come from.

The Financial Times

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Edward Luce is the Washington columnist and commentator for the Financial Times.