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No one can ever divide Europe from America. We have common values and objectives to pursue together. We must inaugurate a new era in transatlantic relations. Just a few sentences were enough for US President George W. Bush to “turn his back on” the recent divisions on the war in Iraq and to raise his gaze beyond mutual mistrust. The challenges of globalization, the emergence of imposing and enigmatic competitors (with India and China in the front row), do not permit recrimination or delays. According to Bush, the USA and the European Union must go forward hand in hand, in close co-operation aimed at building peace and democracy without frontiers. During his journey to the heart of the “old continent”, the President of the USA recognized the importance of the process of European integration, choosing Brussels as the first and fundamental step of his visit; at the same time he abandoned the drastic tones of his foreign policy, considering the rifts with the countries more hostile to American post-9/11 unilateralism a thing of the past. He had words of genuine esteem for the role that Europe is arduously cutting out for itself on the international scene. For their part the leaders of the Twenty-Five appreciated the willingness of America to listen to the “good reasons” on this side of the Atlantic. The relaxed climate and the farsightedness of some speeches heard in Brussels quicken the hope that something good, something better, is beginning for world policy at the present time. On the other hand, some still unresolved questions are emerging that should not be underestimated if we are to avoid future errors in the process of renewed conciliation. First, it is right to “turn our backs” on past divisions, so long as light is shed on the context in which these divisions emerged in the first place and so long as we acknowledge that rightness is unlikely to be all on one side. Second, equal dignity between subjects that respect each other, without claiming the subordination of anyone, needs to be recognized. The plurality of cultures, values, ethical and religious convictions, strategic views and short- and long-term political objectives therefore need to be respected, at the planetary level. The self-determination of peoples and states cannot be considered an obsolete concept in international law. The USA and Europe can also consider each other and really are – two bulwarks of the contemporary world, provided that equal stature is recognized to other countries and international organizations, starting with the United Nations. A mainstay of this line of respect must be multilateralism, always invoked by the UNO and repeatedly called for in the discourses of the Pope. If anything, greater responsibility for the whole of humanity is incumbent on the “world’s great”: problems such as global poverty, the campaign against disease (Aids, malaria, leprosy….), ethnic conflicts, the protection of the environment, and the liberalization of trade, ought to be at the top of the agenda of the USA and the EU. These are urgent tasks that need to be placed on the same level as reconstruction in Iraq, peace in the Holy Land, democracy in Russia and China, and the fight against international terrorism.
