The Federalist - 3/1988. [antikvár]

Traditional Détente and Innovative Détente George Bush' sPresidency ofthe United States and the Single Market envisage dfor January Isti993 in Europe have led many commentators to foresee a worsening in the ties between Europe and the United States and a marked shift of American policy towards the Pacific area. Some even go so far as to argue that the idea of a privileged free trade area between the USA a nd Japan is gaining ground in America, which would include some Latin American countries and would provide a solution to the problem of these countries'foreign debt since their exports would be directed towards Japan and other countries in the Pacific basin with a favourable balance-of-payments position. Moreover, the fast approaching deadline of December 31 st 1992, to-gether with the vital interest that Europeans have in réductions in conventional armaments and economic and technological co-operation mooted by Gorbachev keeps the ghost of "fortress Europe" alive i.e. a closedandprotectionist Community, that concentrâtes exclusively on the protection of its trading interests, and in whose name it is prepared to have ambiguous ties with the United States and the Soviet Union, relying alternately on the protection of one or the other according to the circumstances. In this respect, Kissinger went so far as to say that "Europeans are too sensitive to the suggestion of a Europe which extends its borders from the Atlantic to the Urals", suggesting that they do not realize "that this would mean the Finlandization of Europe." This scenario, it is argued, would encourage growing drives to disengage the US militarily in Europe and pressures for Europeans to agree to pay a much larger share of the expenditure required for conventional defence. * * * These are fishwives' taies. The certain facts on the other hand are: a)