Rarely in the past half century have Europeans been as concerned as now about the foreign and security policies of the United States. They not only are puzzled by the Bush administration’s chaotic involvement in the Middle East, they also are disappointed about the failure of the presidential candidates to be more specific about the military and diplomatic initiatives they plan to pursue.
Few of Europe’s best known political leaders have recently formulated more representative questions about America’s future course in world affairs as Helmut Schmidt who served as Germany’s chancellor from 1974 to 1982. In an essay headlined ”Dear Americans” and published in the newspaper Die Zeit, Schmidt asked the following twelve questions.
- "How do you plan to end the war in Iraq? What means will you employ? What should Iraq look like eventually?"
- "What is your objective in Afghanistan? Is it the elimination of al Qaeda or of the Taliban as well? Or is it the establishment of democracy?"
- "In case al Qaeda concentrates on Pakistan and, perhaps, gains access to Pakistani nuclear weapons, would you intervene militarily in Pakistan as well?"
- "What is your strategy for a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors, which has been festering for half a century? Would you support the establishment of a Palestinian state or will the Annapolis Conference remain only an episode?"
- "Now that the U.S. intelligence community has publicly stated that Iran has discontinued its nuclear weapons program, what is the future U.S. policy toward Iran?"
- "Since a quarter of the world’s states are Islamic, would you fight for religious and cultural tolerance and work against a clash of civilizations with Islam?"
- "Do you agree that, besides the Middle East, “Russia is the other great challenge for global security” (Zbigniew Brzezinski)? Or do you share our view that, since Gorbachev, Russia has never violated its borders militarily and is acting more peacefully now than at any time in its Tsarist and Communist history? Are the missile defense installations planned for Poland and the Czech Republic really intended to make these countries and the United States more secure, or are they simply meant to intimidate Russia? Do you accept Russia’s global political and economic role?"
- "Do you accept the global political and economic role of China? Will you finally invite China to the G-8 and other global summits?'
- "Will you fulfill America’s commitments in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty? Would you reinstate the ABM Treaty against a new arms race with anti-ballistic missiles that your predecessor unwisely withdrew from? Will you finally support the ratification of the adapted Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE), which your predecessor in office refused to do?"
- "After two U.S. presidents failed to seek ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, will America take part in a global, contractual limitation of greenhouse gas emissions?"
- "Will your budgetary and financial policies seek to remedy the high U.S. foreign trade deficit? Will America stop consuming a large part of other nations’ savings and accumulation of capital? Do you support agreements on controls and monitoring of the world’s highly speculative financial markets?"
- "Is the Charter of the United Nations international law that applies in the U.S.?"
In the summation of his veiled criticism of the Bush administration’s unilateralist and imperialist tendencies, Schmidt admits: “We have become skeptical because for the past 10 years, Washington has turned to us only when it has needed troops or money.”