Stronger U.S.-Europe ties urged at Wilson School conference

Diplomats and academics called for continued strong ties between the United States and the European Union and more specified roles for them in managing crises during a three-day Wilson School conference on the E.U. that concluded yesterday.

"Instead of polarization we need partnership," Gnter Burghardt, E.U. ambassador to the United States, said in a keynote speech over lunch Saturday. "I don't believe in us living in two different planets."

Twenty-eight participants — including three European ambassadors, one American ambassador and other distinguished international figures — convened in Robertson Hall to debate issues including the structure of the E.U., the E.U.'s responses to past and present crises and its relationship with the U.S.

Wilson School lecturer Wolfgang Danspeckgruber — who co-chaired the conference with professor Ezra Suleiman — said he believes the conference's major message was that both Europeans and Americans wish to keep intact the transatlantic security relationship.

"This partnership, this community of security, is also a community of values," he said. "We are like a big family, and there are always disagreements within a family, but we have to move on."

Wilson School Dean Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 opened the conference Friday, welcoming the participants to what she said would be an informative and important assembly.

"The E.U. and the E.U.-U.S. relationship are subjects very close to my heart and to my scholarly interests," she said. "The E.U. has something to learn from the U.S., and the U.S. has something to learn from the E.U."

Danspeckgruber set up the context of the conference.

"What is the EU's role, power, and position in the world?" he said. "After three convulsive events in a 12-month-period — the introduction of the Euro, a significant change of government in the US, and the largest terror attack in modern history — does the system change or does it not? We are in the process of changing."

Burghardt discussed the multiple facets of the E.U.-U.S. relationship. He cited economic statistics reflecting the interdependence of the two regions.

"I agree with Madeleine Albright that the United States is an indispensable country, but there is also an indispensable relationship between the United States and Europe," he said.

To achieve an effective relationship, Burghardt called for sacrifices from both sides.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"A partnership can only exist when there is readiness on the American side and capabilities on the European side," he said. "There has to be serious effort to come to mutual agreements on both sides of the Atlantic."

Burghardt argued that the use of force is not always necessary to solve foreign policy dilemmas.

"Not every problem is a nail that needs a hammer," he said. "There are other important tools in the toolbox. The civilian apparatus and the military apparatus have to work together."

During the conference, the participants also discussed the balance of power between the United States and the E.U. Johns Hopkins University professor David Calleo derided what he saw as the tendency of the U.S. to stand alone in foreign policy.

"We need an updated version of the balance of power," he said. "The idea of a unipolar world is very bad for Americans, very bad for our character. It becomes a cover for impulses that do not show the best side of our nature."

Instead of unipolarity, participants called for greater multilateralism in major foreign-policy decisions.

"We have to avoid this opposition of the west versus the rest," said Zaki Laidi, a professor at L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.

Andre Piontkovsky, director of the Center for Strategic Studies in Moscow, added that the E.U. must contribute its resources to create a true multipolar relationship.

"I am not apprehensive about American power, but rather about American weakness," he said. "Our program is not to counter American power. Let's enrich them with our soft power. Hard power is not enough, as we see on our T.V. screens every day."

Several other participants also brought up the United States' current struggles in the war against terrorism.

"The United States has enormous mechanical power, but it's not very useful because of asymmetrical responses, such as terrorism, which after all is the power of the weak, and nuclear weapons," Calleo said.

Given the participants' enthusiasm, Danspeckgruber said he hopes this will be the first of an annual series of meetings on the European Union, held in cities including Paris, Berlin and St. Petersburg.

"We wanted to discuss with academics, practitioners, and policy makers the potential role of the EU in the emerging international scene, its relationship to the US and its capabilities in dealing with crises," he said. "We have in these three days, by all standards and according to all participants, far exceeded our goals."

In future meetings, Danspeckgruber hopes to bring along a group of undergraduate students to learn from the expert panelists and share their knowledge when they return.

"The only thing I lament about this conference was that even though it was extremely publicized, I would have hoped that more undergraduates would have been there," he said. "I really want these meetings to take on an educational role for the younger generation."