BERLIN, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Observers say Europe will have to do more to help the United States find and implement a fresh security strategy in the Middle East
, and the findings of the Iraq Study Group have already sparked positive feedback from European allies.
"We do not recommend a stay-the-course solution," said former Secretary of State James Baker
, a Republican who co-chaired the bipartisan group with former Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton. "In our opinion, that is no longer viable."
The new realism handed to U.S. President George W. Bush by the Baker-Hamilton report marks a shift in U.S. public opinion
, which Europe hopes will eventually also evolve into a shift in U.S. foreign policy.
Signs for a change were already visible. After the sweeping Democratic victory in the midterm elections, neo-conservative architects of the failed foreign policy, like (former Secretary of Defense) Donald Rumsfeld and John Bolton
, the unpopular U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, had to resign.
Robert Gates, the new U.S. secretary of defense, answering a senator's question as to whether America "was winning in Iraq," said "no, Sir"; thus with two words changing the rhetoric that has dominated Bush's news conferences for the past two years.
Until last month, Gates was a member of the ISG and is expected to be much more open to alternative ideas and new tactics in Iraq and the Middle East than his predecessor was.
Karsten Voigt, the German government's coordinator for U.S.-German relations, said Europe should be happy about a strategy change in Washington.
"If we as Europeans and as Germans can help diplomatically
, we should do it," he told German news channel n-tv. "We are also ready to help rebuilding Iraq if the security situation allows it."
Germany already trains police and army, albeit outside Iraq, but that could be expanded once new initiatives are on the table. When the bipartisan, multilateral approach really takes hold in the White House, Germany and Europe as a whole will be asked to do more, John Hulsman, a Europe and trans-Atlantic expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, a Berlin-based think tank
, said Thursday at a press breakfast in Berlin.
"If Europe doesn't do more, they're helping the neo-cons, who are then going to ask: 'Why are you wasting your time talking to the Europeans?'" said Hulsman, a former senior fellow at the conservative Washington-based Heritage Foundation.
He added that Europe now needed to deliver a "creative, pro-active
, policy-oriented role" when it comes to Iraq and the Middle East.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was meeting with Bush in the White House on Thursday, is expected to publicly side with his ally; he will likely also stress
, however, the need for a broader Middle East strategy that includes diplomatic relations with Syria and Iran, a move the Baker-Hamilton report also proposes.
Observers say talking to Syria and Iran is key to stabilize Lebanon and help efforts in the Arab-Israeli peace process.
The problem is, however, that neo-conservatives in Washington are far from thrilled to speak with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has in the past called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."
"Don't mention this around (U.S. Vice President) Dick Cheney," Hulsman said. "But talking to Syria and Iran is a no-brainer. We have talked to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and you don't lose your soul over this. This is what professional diplomats do."
Chances are good that Damascus can be won over to help return stability to Iraq, Hulsman added.
"Syria doesn't want to be seen as part of the axis of evil," he said. "They want investments, U.S. investments."
Returning to Syria the Golan Heights
, occupied by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war, is a move proposed by several international experts that may convince Syria to stop supporting the Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
Germany could play a key role in establishing such a dialogue; especially in the case of Syria, Berlin has had good contacts. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday traveled to Washington for talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the commission's proposals for a new Middle East strategy are surely topping the agenda.
"Early coordination and close cooperation with the United States are key aspects to managing the very difficult foreign policy agenda ahead of us," Steinmeier's spokesman Martin Jaeger said Wednesday in Berlin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she wants to revive the Middle East Quartet for Peace -- comprising the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- and Berlin indeed has some political capital to spend in the first half of 2007 when it takes over the presidencies of both the EU and the Group of Eight. Steinmeier will also check whether that move has backing in Washington, before Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert comes to Berlin next week.
But all plans of a fresh U.S. strategy -- and thus increased European efforts -- in the Middle East stand and fall with one man.
As Gates said, "There is still only one president of the United States, and he will make the final decision."Related Topics Articles：
