More stripes than stars

In the US electoral campaign Europe has recurrently been mentioned, often in negative terms. The European Union and some of its Member states are taken as negative examples by Republican candidate Mitt Romney, as the result of the failure of "state policies". In order to understand what would change in transatlantic relations if Romney won the elections, and in order to understand what has been the role of the euro crisis in the US’ staggering economic recovery, Damiano Beltrami, SIR Europe’s correspondent in the USA, interviewed Michael Brenner, Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the University of Pittsburgh, Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations of Johns Hopkins’ University.What would change for Europe if the Republican candidate won the elections, professor Brenner? "Romney said that Russia is the greatest strategic threat for the United States, but it’s not clear what he’s precisely referring to. But for some time in Washington it appeared that relations with Putin had grown worse, owing to Moscow’s government’s steps backwards in the area of democracy, and owing to Putin’s recurring criticism of America’s behaviour regarding the question of Syria, and not only that. If Romney assumed a more hostile approach towards Russia it would impact also the relations between Moscow and Brussels".Could you give us some examples?"Washington could try to lead Europe to take a stronger stand against Moscow, for example in terms of economic politics, energy policies in particular or with regard to the extension of the Russian South Stream pipeline, directly linking Russia and the EU. In general, in the energy sector, the countries with oil deposits bordering on the Caspian Sea tend to distance themselves from the United States and would thus approach further closer to Moscow, which would in turn continue to re-affirm its sphere of influence. And given the importance of these regions in terms of energy supplies to Europe, the old continent would also be involved".Apart from a more ‘energetic’ approach towards Russia, what is the "Romney doctrine" as relates to foreign policy? "There is no ‘Romney doctrine’. His view is aligned with the prevailing one in the Republican Party, that is, a muscular America. But I expect a substantial continuity with Obama’s foreign policy. Unless the neoconservatives, who were the most influential group during the Bush administration – and many of them may become Romney’s advisers – manage to take control of the situation and impose their agenda. In that case we could observe policies even more combative than those implemented by the Obama administration, especially as regards to Iran". Europe has been a largely-broached theme in this campaign, and almost always in a negative way, as a bogey, as if it were a new Soviet Union. Why?"In recent decades the liberal economic remedy has become a dogma. At the same time, Europe was increasingly branded as a social democracy, and certain politicians not knowing the difference between social democracy and socialism have ended up adopting this second label. Those who say this do not know, however, that even the idea of the free market comes from Europe. Never underestimate the level of ignorance that pervades the American political class…".The Obama administration has often more or less covertly deemed the euro crisis responsible of preventing U.S. economic recovery. Do you agree?"It’s an excuse of Obama’s entourage. The fact that we have not recovered more quickly is not due to the euro crisis. It is due to the fact that our economy is still struggling with serious structural problem. Financial reforms failed to be adopted, finances are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a tiny segment of the population, the so-called 1%, and the economic stimulus plan was too small. The European crisis is not related to this situation. Moreover, with these austerity plans Europe is committing suicide, in my opinion. But that’s another story…". More generally how do see today the relations between the U.S. and EU?"For about ten years now, America has been paying less and less attention to what happens in Europe. In foreign policy, Washington looks to the EU as a group of countries long dependent on the United States, adopting the strategies and policies designed and conceived in Washington, just think of Iraq, Afghanistan, the war against al Qaida in Africa. Europe, the second largest world area of wealth concentration, not just only renounces it role, but it is always ready to support any of the priorities of the United States. So from the point of view of the United States relations are excellent. Washington has no interest to encourage Europe to develop an independent voice on these issues. For the United States, things are good as they are".