US-led wars
Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal, New Delhi
The US-led wars since the Sept 11 have strained its relations with the European countries, considered by Washington as its backyard, with the exception of the UK, a close English ally willing to play a junior partner. While Germany has significant reservations about a few issues like global warming, France, like Russia, has emerged as the strong critic of the US policy in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq. Former French President Chirac criticised President Bush for his Iraq war in unequivocal terms. Chirac had questioned the legitimacy of the war and that annoyed the US. President Bush tried his diplomatic skills to quell the French protest, but in vain. Both sides have tried for improvement, but failed continuously. The new President of France, Sarkozy, known widely as pro-American has not only maintained a neutral position with regards to the US plans, but also sided with it over the global warming issue. Badly shaken by terrible outcomes of the war in Islamic nations and unable to stop the drift of Europe from US leadership, the US seems to have revised its strategy for Europe by making strenuous efforts to build friendly diplomatic bridges across the Euro-Atlantic region. The US now moves faster to flatter Europe, nation by nation, by singing good tunes of European music so as to bring them back to its fold for action on different issues, particularly to seek help of France in making diplomatic effort to support Iraq. The forthcoming diplomatic tour of Rice to Paris needs to be understood from this angle.
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