Confronting Transatlantic Discord: Major United States Policy Differences with Europe *

This article reviews the Bush administration's justifications for removing Saddam Hussein and his regime and the global and European opposition to the U.S.-led war against Iraq. The author contends that the war was not a reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, but rather a continuation of a plan developed over the previous decade by prominent members of the current Bush administration. Moreover, the war was completely consistent with the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war as embedded in the U.S. “National Security Strategy.”

That strategy is enabled by the fact that U.S. military power is unsurpassed and unchallengeable, surpassing that of the 18 other NATO countries combined. The worldview reflected by this strategy has provoked widespread opposition within Europe, appearing to many to have put in jeopardy the future of the transatlantic alliance. Arab and European resentment of U.S. partiality toward Israel is also examined. The author concludes, however, that America's most important partnership remains with Europe.