Foreign Policy Blogs

Transatlantic Media

Libya: U.S. Still Needs Europe

Political collateral damage inflicted by the West’s military action against Libya includes the destruction of two serious misconceptions long cherished by numerous experts in Washington. The first is the idea that in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century Europe is no longer strategically important to the United States; the second the fallacious belief […]

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Arab Revolt Is Not 1776

It might help the U.S. media better understand the various rebellions breaking out in the Middle East if they could clear their minds of thoughts of 1776 and the strange idea that despots like Hosni Mubarak and Moammar Gadhafi are somehow equivalent to King George III. Although a number of commentators are comparing the Arab […]

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Nuclear Nonsense from the NYT

Newspaper editorials that recommend policies to foreign leaders and governments are almost invariably pointless and patronizing – in short, a waste of time. Do European publications, for instance, really think that President Barack Obama will be influenced by their views in dealing with the new Republican-led House of Representatives – or that Chancellor Angela Merkel […]

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No Queens at EU Summit

The European Union summit on September 16 was a disappointment to those who had hoped at last to learn how the royal heads of Europe view the EU’s role in the world – and thus, presumably, their own future global influence and status. Sadly, it turned out that some of the top names in media […]

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Bush Never Said "Mission Accomplished"

With the leaking Gulf oil well apparently under control, and the spilled oil mysteriously vanishing, the Obama administration has come under pressure from journalists to declare “mission accomplished.” It is understandably unwilling to do this, partly because things could still go wrong and partly because of the phrase’s unfortunate political baggage. According to the virtually […]

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MSNBC Errs 1,000-fold on BP’s CEO

BP’s blundering CEO Tony Hayward didn’t escape the wrath of the U.S. media even after agreeing to step down on October 1. Amid the general cries of good riddance to the man accused of trying to minimize the extent of BP’s Gulf oil spill, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz erred inexcusably in the other direction by overestimating […]

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UK Leader Panders to Turkey

Media Agree, The Road from Ankara to Brussels Remains Unpaved, Let Alone Gilded Britain’s new prime minister, David Cameron, has created his first policy rift with France and Germany, the backbone of the European Union, by promising aggressive help for Turkey’s bid for EU membership, which both Paris and Berlin oppose. In a visit to […]

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World Cup: It’s England, Not Britain

World Cup: It’s England, Not Britain

The U.S. soccer team was lucky to tie its first game in the World Cup against a reputedly stronger team, but some Americans appeared unclear as to whom exactly they were playing.

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Critical Questions: What Do Britain’s Elections Mean for the United States?

Britain holds parliamentary elections this Thursday (May 6) that are widely viewed as the closest in the country’s recent history. The latest polls show the opposition Conservatives under David Cameron in the lead with anything from 33 percent to 37 percent, against 27 percent or 28 percent each for Gordon Brown’s governing Labour Party and […]

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End of the U.S.-UK “Special Relationship” – Again?

The British media love to announce the end of the “special relationship” between the United States and Britain, and now they have been joined by a UK Parliamentary Committee, which recommends that the phrase, first coined by Winston Churchill, be abandoned. Britain should put its own interests first and stop showing so much deference to […]

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U.S. “Rigs” Tanker Bid: EU Doth Protest too Much

There was a huge outcry in the United States in 2008, when the Pentagon awarded a $40 billion contract for tanker refueling aircraft for the Air Force to a consortium including a European competitor – EADS, parent of Airbus. EADS won the bid in partnership with Northrop Grumman, the U.S. defense contractor, beating a rival […]

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Obama Won’t Buy “Eumerica”

In a clever play on words, Theo Sommer rejects the concept of “Chimerica,” a bipolar order run by the United States and China, as a “chimera” in the March issue of The Atlantic Times, a monthly German English-language newspaper. Sommer, the newspaper’s Executive Editor, is equally dismissive of “Chindia,” a liaison between China and India, […]

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EU: Post Parades its Ignorance – Again

The Washington Post once again parades its profound ignorance of the European Union in an editorial reacting to the appointment of new EU leaders in Brussels. Starting with the ultra-hackneyed, apocryphal cliché about Henry Kissinger supposedly wanted a single telephone number for Europe (he didn’t), the Post announces that after eight years of labor, European […]

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U.S. Media Snubs New EU Leaders

U.S. media are largely ignoring the European Union’s efforts to make a bigger splash on the world stage by selecting a new full-time president of the European Council, the group of EU leaders that holds regular summit meetings, and a new high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – in effect a foreign minister, […]

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The Wall Fell – So What?

In the flood of commemorative comment on both sides of the Atlantic marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, one clear impression stands out. There is still no agreement on what the historic moment meant, or even why it happened. This is perhaps surprising, given that the Wall’s fall is one […]

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