Prior to September 11th, the US was considered the world's only superpower - some even called us a 'hyperpower.' Our allies, especially those in Europe, tended not to do anything without our participation. Just after 9/11, we had the world wrapped around our finger.
Four years of unilateral arrogance and the shunning of traditional allies for ones like Poland and Sumatra have emasculated us globally, especially in Europe.
With the United States pinned down in Iraq, where the continued deployment of nearly 150,000 troops has severely strained the U.S. military, European leaders no longer expect further military expeditions in Bush's second term. And so they have been gracious -- but assertive, thus reflecting how far the United States has fallen from "hyperpower" status -- a term coined about America by French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine.
Indeed, analysts said, European leaders are increasingly united against U.S. positions and feel emboldened to go their own way on such issues as Iran and China.
Heisbourg said the divisions created by the Iraq war had also changed the dynamic within Europe, with officials trying to form a more united front on key issues. Europeans who had been more assertive in their stand on the war, such as the French, have become more restrained while the British, who had argued that Europe had little choice but to support the United States, have leaned back toward the rest of Europe. "Those at the center, such as Germany, have become more bold in stressing their Europeanism," he said.
The net effect is a Europe more willing to go its own way even as the Bush administration has engaged in a charm offensive in recent weeks to rebalance relationships badly frayed by the Iraq war.
US power globally is waning - our aggressive, morally bankrupt and deceptive, imperious foreign policy has shred our international credibility as a power to be reckoned with. Instead, the Europeans are uniting to counterbalance us and take our place as leaders on the world stage:
The Europeans, including the British government, feel privately that the past three years have been hijacked by Iraq. Facing the grinding, bloody and unending reality of Iraq doesn't mean accepting Bush's original premises but getting on with the task of stability at hand. For months before his visit, NATO countries, including France, have involved their police in training local Iraq security forces. Ceasing the finger-pointing is the basis for Europe's consensus on its new if not publicly articulated policy: the containment of Bush. It ought to go without saying that Bush misses the nuances and ambiguities.
In the end, we end up as the global Johnny-come-lately instead of global leader, ironically the opposite effect of what Bush and the neocons had in mind.
President Bush said Wednesday that he and German, British and French leaders had discussed negotiating tactics to try to get Iran to give up its suspected nuclear weapons program, and his national security adviser later left open the possibility that Mr. Bush would consider offering incentives to dissuade Iran from its nuclear ambitions.
The tactic of incentives, favored by the Europeans, had been roundly rejected by the Bush administration as recently as two weeks ago.
Squandering the good relations that we had with the world may end up being the costliest mistake that this Administration has "led" us into.
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