Howard Dean: The Emerging European Influence [View All]

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http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_16619.shtml

By: Howard Dean
Published: Dec 28, 2004

Amid the wreckage of President Bush's foreign policy, the United States is at its lowest popularity in decades in every corner of the globe. America's dominance on the foreign stage was prominent four years ago, but now Europe is beginning to emerge as the champion of Western values, as it becomes less politically dependent on America.

Since President Bush alienated most of our traditional European allies over the Iraq War, there are signs that the European community is finally getting serious about its future and its responsibility.

The European Union has rewritten its Constitution to make decision making easier, never an easy task with 25 member states. France, Britain and Germany recently negotiated a deal with Iran to halt their nuclear program. We are right to be skeptical about whether such an agreement will be honored by the Iranians, but the attempt at least postpones the siren songs of the Neoconservatives who want to do in Iran what President Bush did in Iraq.

The Euro is at an all time high against the dollar, since the members of the European Union are actually trying to keep their budgets in balance. They are not always successful, but making the effort promotes investment. Claiming that deficits are irrelevant, as the American Republicans do, is not only delusional, but it harms the value of the dollar, and ultimately our strength as a nation.