The Obama Moment. European and American Perspectives

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2. The Obama administration and Europe
also need to develop a clearer agenda for conflict prevention and crisis management
at the United Nations (UN). In many of the world’s unstable regions, it will not be
US soldiers or European diplomats who will broker ceasefires, police demilitarised
zones or staff post-conflict reconstruction missions (though the US and EU will
likely continue to carry the costs). The burden falls on the UN, which in turn relies
on contributions from Asia and Africa. This makes it all the more important for the
US and EU to join forces in building the capacity of both the UN and the developing
world, while agreeing on common or complementary approaches where conflicts
are likely to occur.
The Obama administration has also staked out new US positions in arms control
and disarmament. In addition to launching negotiations with Russia on followon
arrangements for the START treaty, which expires on 5 December 2009, President
Obama has endorsed the goal of ‘global zero;’ affirmed US interest in a verifiable
fissile material cutoff treaty that would end production of fissile materials
for use in atomic bombs; asserted his intention to secure US Senate ratification
of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; and proposed measures to strengthen the
Non-Proliferation Treaty. Obama has also invited world leaders to attend a Global
Nuclear Summit in Washington in March 2010 to discuss steps to secure loose
nuclear materials; combat smuggling; and deter, detect, and disrupt attempts at
nuclear terrorism.
Overall, the new course being charted by the administration has been welcomed by
its European partners. 10 Yet beneath the congratulatory rhetoric there are a host
of European anxieties and apprehensions that require deft US diplomacy and alliance
management. This was showcased by the dustup over Obama’s missile defence
plans. Obama scrapped the Bush administration’s proposed antiballistic missile
shield in central Europe – a sophisticated radar facility in the Czech Republic
and 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland – in favour of deploying smaller SM-3
interceptors aboard ships by 2011 and later in Europe, possibly in Poland or the
Czech Republic. Under Obama’s plan, such defences will be deployed seven years
earlier than under the Bush plan, in response to evidence that Iran has made greater
progress in building short- and medium-range missiles that could threaten Israel
and Europe than it had in developing the intercontinental missiles that the Bush
system was more suited to counter. In addition, the administration has indicated
10. Nuclear powers like France are still staking out their position on this issue. Former foreign minister Hubert
Védrine called Obama’s plans for a nuclear weapon free world ‘pure demagoguery’ (see: http://www.spiegel.de/
politik/ausland/0,1518,617759,00.html) while President Sarkozy had previously outlined his own disarmament
strategy.