It goes without saying that George W. Bush is not loved in Europe. Even before the Iraq war raised animosity toward him to fever pitch, the perceived stupidity, ignorance, and arrogance of the "Texan cowboy" had gone down badly across the Atlantic. His evangelical Christian beliefs do not sit well with mostly secular Europeans. His assertion of U.S. exceptionalism sticks in the craw. His contemptuous dismissal of the United Nations has angered even those Europeans who normally favor a strong alliance with the United States. So two days after the presidential election, when the Daily Mirror ran a front page picture of Bush next to the headline, "How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb?," it was widely assumed that the paper was reflecting popular sentiment in this part of the world.
The New Republic
The coming collapse of free trade
Last month, when World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Cancún collapsed in acrimony, the United States responded with a brave face. Though the meeting was seen as the best chance to push forward the Doha round of trade negotiations, which aims to slash trade barriers and boost the global economy, America’s negotiators insisted the United States would continue to fight for freer trade. "For over two years, the U.S. has pushed to open markets globally, in our hemisphere, and with sub-regions or individual countries," said Robert Zoellick, the U.S. trade representative. "As WTO members ponder the future, the U.S. will not wait: We will move toward free trade with can-do countries." Zoellick’s message is clear: If pesky "won’t-do" countries block the multilateral, WTO route to liberalization, they will be left by the wayside. The United States will instead spearhead a push for free trade through bilateral and regional agreements.
Europe’s mighty economy
The bubble may have burst, but the hubris lives on. Despite Bush administration concerns, expressed at the G-8 summit of leading industrialized countries this week, that economic weakness is spreading throughout the globe, Americans still routinely boast that their economy beats the socks off the rest of the world. Japan? A write-off. Europe? A basket case. China? A threat, perhaps, but still a distant one. While others stumble along, the United States races ahead. After all, President Bush never ceases to reassure Americans that "the U.S. economy is the strongest and most resilient economy in the world."