The Importance of European Politics

If you watched CNN this past week, you most definitely heard about Don Imus' racially inappropriate comments, you likely heard about recent bombings in Iraq, and you probably listened to some news about the 2008 presidential campaign. What you probably did not hear is that the extremely tight and potentially revolutionary elections in France are less than a week away. This lack of news coverage stems from the fact that Americans not only believe the U.S. is a super-power, but take this belief to mean that no one else's voice or opinion really matters in the world. Nevertheless, the truth is that what happens in the European political world has a great effect on both America's world image as well as our nation's efforts abroad.

In Spain, for example, politics has had a direct effect on both the War on Terror, War in Iraq, and Latin American politics. The March 2004 Madrid train bombings provided the impetus for the Spanish to vote out pro-American Prime Minister José María Aznar, in favor of the socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The result of this election was a withdrawal of all 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq and a premier who would no longer obsequiously stand beside President George W. Bush's foreign policy. This not only gave a blow to the direct war effort in Iraq, but also demonstrated that many of these nations really valued their security more than aiding the U.S. in a far-off war. Moreover, Zapatero has generated a friendlier relationship between the European Union and America's Latin American enemies Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, thereby legitimizing these rulers whom our government would like to isolate as rogues.

Effects similar to Zapatero's succession were also seen in Italy last year when pro-American Prime Minister and outspoken Iraq War supporter Silvio Berlusconi lost to Romano Prodi, the center-left candidate. Prodi has articulated a stance on Iraq similar to that of Zapatero and other European socialists, thereby further drawing international support away from the war. Furthermore, the election of Prodi has had a significant effect on the conflict on another part of the Middle East. During the war in Lebanon this past summer, Prodi demonstrated his separation from the United States' foreign policy by criticizing Israel in a manner similar to France instead of taking the same stance as the State Department, which Berlusconi likely would have done. Moreover, Italy demonstrated its new-found influence in the regional political sphere when it offered the United Nations a significant number of peacekeeping troops.

Despite these political changes in Italy and Spain, European elections of the past few years have not just led to more anti-American leaders. When the United States first declared war on Saddam Hussein's Iraq, for example, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a socialist, joined with French President Jacques Chirac to strenuously object and vote against the invasion. In 2005, however, Schröder narrowly lost to center-right candidate Angela Merkel, who ran partially on a platform of a better relationship with the United States. Merkel has had a more amicable relationship with the Bush Administration, defending many of Israel's actions and working with the U.S. to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions. Also, she has been extremely quick to denounce the rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The effects on the past few European elections have had a profound effect on American efforts abroad. The results in Spain and Italy have greatly drained support from the War in Iraq and the War on Terror. Moreover, these elections have given say to some of America's biggest enemies, like Hugo Chavez. Nonetheless, the 2005 elections in Germany put into power a premier who is more in favor of American foreign policy than her predecessor.

This coming Sunday's elections in France promise to have a profound effect on American foreign policy as well. It is often said that what happens in France, happens to most of the world. Currently, President Chirac has continued a Gaullist tradition of voicing opposition to American foreign policy. He has held firm in his denunciation of the Iraq War, taken a more critical line with Israel, and even tried to unilaterally make a deal with Iran. Nonetheless, Nicolas Sarkozy, the candidate from Chirac's party and the current front-runner has voiced a very different platform. He has promised to mend relations with the Bush Administration and lend Israel greater support in its War on Terror. He even visited Washington to meet directly with Bush to show his support of the President. The other two candidates who may emerge victorious, socialist Ségolène Royal and centrist François Bayrou, however, have been somewhat more complex in how they would like to relate to the U.S. Royal has vacillated and said very little about the United States. Bayrou, on the other hand, has family in Iowa and has said that France should have a healthy, but fair relationship with the U.S., in which both nations listen to one another.

No matter who wins, though, the new French president will lead much of the European voice towards the United States and have a profound impact on American foreign policy goals. Though the national media has been very reluctant to report on the French presidential elections, it is important that Americans pay attention.