Old Europe
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In January 2003 the term Old Europe surfaced after U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used it to refer to European countries that did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq, most notably France and Germany. It has come to mean some subset of the countries of continental Western Europe.
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[edit] Origin
On January 22, 2003 Rumsfeld answered a question from Charles Groenhuijsen, a Dutch questioner, about the potential US invasion:
- Q: Sir, a question about the mood among European allies. You were talking about the Islamic world a second ago. But now the European allies. If you look at, for example, France, Germany, also a lot of people in my own country -- I'm from Dutch public TV, by the way -- it seems that a lot of Europeans rather give the benefit of the doubt to Saddam Hussein than President George Bush. These are U.S. allies. What do you make of that?
- Rumsfeld: Well, it's -- what do I make of it?
- Q: They have no clerics. They have no Muslim clerics there.
- Rumsfeld: Are you helping me? (Laughter.) Do you think I need help? (Laughter.)
- What do I think about it? Well, there isn't anyone alive who wouldn't prefer unanimity. I mean, you just always would like everyone to stand up and say, Way to go! That's the right to do, United States.
- Now, we rarely find unanimity in the world. I was ambassador to NATO, and I -- when we would go in and make a proposal, there wouldn't be unanimity. There wouldn't even be understanding. And we'd have to be persuasive. We'd have to show reasons. We'd have to -- have to give rationales. We'd have to show facts. And, by golly, I found that Europe on any major issue is given -- if there's leadership and if you're right, and if your facts are persuasive, Europe responds. And they always have.
- Now, you're thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don't. I think that's old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe today, the center of gravity is shifting to the east. And there are a lot of new members. And if you just take the list of all the members of NATO and all of those who have been invited in recently -- what is it? Twenty-six, something like that? -- you're right. Germany has been a problem, and France has been a problem.
- Q: But opinion polls --
- Rumsfeld: But -- just a minute. Just a minute. But you look at vast numbers of other countries in Europe. They're not with France and Germany on this, they're with the United States.
Rumsfeld may have meant the "old way we think about Europe" or as would be clear in American English expression "the old Europe." However, the expression was also interpreted as a dig against a "sclerotic" and old-fashioned Western Europe. It became a potent symbol, especially after division emerged over Iraq between France and Germany and some of the new Central and Southeastern European entrants and applicants to NATO and the European Union.
Further diplomatic tension built up when Rumsfeld pointed out in February 2003, that Germany, Cuba and Libya were the only nations completely opposing a possible war in Iraq (a statement that was formally correct at the time). This was interpreted by many that he would put Germany on a common level with undemocratic dictatorships violating human rights.
[edit] Later usage
The German translation altes Europa was the word of the year for 2003 in Germany, because German politicians and commentators responded by often using it in a sarcastic way. It was frequently used with pride and a reference to a perceived position of greater moral integrity. The terms altes Europa and Old Europe now frequently surface in European economic and political discourse.[citation needed]
In contrast to Rumsfeld's usage of "Old Europe", the term New Europe (and neues Europa) also appeared, reflecting either the European states that supported the war, the newly accepted to the EU Central European states, or a new economically and technologically dynamic and liberal Europe, often including the United Kingdom.
In light of the history of European diplomacy, it may also reflect power conflicts within the EU as member nations resent the power and influence demanded by France and Germany.
It has also been used to describe the problems for several Western European countries having an ageing population and potentially unfundable pension plans. However several Eastern European countries considered as New Europe tend to have an older population profile due to plunging birth rates, little immigration and the exodus of younger adults to work in Western Europe.
Rumsfeld made fun of his statement shortly before a 2005 diplomatic trip to Europe. "When I first mentioned I might be travelling in France and Germany it raised some eyebrows. One wag said it ought to be an interesting trip after all that has been said. I thought for a moment and then I replied: 'Oh, that was the old Rumsfeld.'"
[edit] Antecedent uses
The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels starts with the words:
- A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. All the powers of old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre: Pope and Tsar, Metternich and Guizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.
When Marx used the term in 1848, the year of failed liberal revolutions across Europe, he was referring to the restoration of Ancien régime dynasties, following the defeat of Napoleon. Of his three sets of pairs, each pair links figures who might on the surface be considered adversaries, in alliances that he clearly sees as unholy, to set up one of history's most effective conspiracy theories. An "Old Europe" must find a mental contrast with a posited "New Europe".
[edit] See also
- Freedom fries
- Axis of weasels
- Old World
- Transatlantic relations
- European Foreign Policy
- Old Europe Restaurant in Washington, DC, a schnitzel haus a mile from Rumsfeld's house -- coincidence?