[allAfrica.com] Name-Calling And Other Games Must Not Leave SA High And Dry Business Day (Johannesburg) OPINION February 7, 2003 Posted to the web February 8, 2003 By Tim Cohen Johannesburg IN THE immediate aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks, French daily Le Monde ran the headline Nous sommes tous des Americains (Today we are all Americans). It is an irony that subsequent events (and particularly the imminent war in Iraq) have heralded not a new era of trans-Atlantic unity, consensus and accord, but rather they have generated intense hostility between the US and some European countries. Not only that, but the events have generated rifts within Europe itself. A feature of these rifts is that they have not taken the form of sophisticated, nuanced debate typical of the Europeans. Actually, they have bottomed out into a simple matter of calling each other names. What makes it all so odd is that the split started with a rather offhand and innocuous phrase used by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. When asked about the transatlantic spat over armed intervention in Iraq, he said objections came from a place he described as "old Europe". He was of course not talking about the historically old Europe, (Greece and Italy) but newer, old Europe France and Germany. He was distinguishing this old Europe from the newly democratic eastern Europe. The phrase was faintly mocking rather than overt name calling. But this is not how it was received. To even the most casual reader of European media, it is obvious that the phrase was greeted as an insult it stung. The US government was particularly furious with the stance of German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is staunchly against war in Iraq, particularly as the US has guaranteed German security for half a century. Facing elections at home, Schröder has "played the anti-American peace card in a self-serving attempt to revive his party's fortunes", said The Times. It is a little more complex than that. First, Germany still has conscription, so a war would mean sending part-time soldiers rather than permanent force volunteers into battle. This is never popular at the polls. Germans now have an aversion to war. On another level, in a world without two opposing superpowers and without a Berlin Wall, Germans feel less bound to follow the US slavishly. France's position is more complex. The Wall Street Journal has said that France's opposition to the US is based on an overdeveloped sense of national interest which overshadows issues of international security. Financial Times columnist Quentin Peel says France also stands accused of following a cynical path of national convenience on Iraq. But, Peel says, Chirac's insistence on a second UN resolution to sanction military action in Iraq, and his public hesitation over going to war, is supported by the overwhelming majority of Europeans. Interestingly it was British Prime Minister Tony Blair who actually took Rumsfeld at his word, helping to orchestrate a letter signed by the presidents of eight European nations to support war in Iraq conditionally. The letter was signed not only by old Europe (Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Britain) but significantly also by new Europe (Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic). So much for European unity. How does this affect SA? I would suggest that first SA should not take this too seriously. All of these "rifts" will disappear instantly once the war in Iraq is over. Compared to US-European interests, these "rifts" are mere political gamesmanship. Second, SA should be careful to take the theoretical opposition to war of old Europe with a pinch of salt. In the end, France will do what it can to mitigate US overzealousness, but ultimately, it will fall into line. SA foreign policy makers seem to hear these debates in Europe with a tin ear, at times taking the public statements of European leaders at face value. This is dangerous. When old Europe manages its delicate uturns, as it will, we will be the ones left high and dry. Cohen is Chief Reporter   =============================================================================  Copyright © 2003 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================