Continental Drift
NATO, the alliance the United States forged with Europe a half-century ago, is welcoming three new members from Eastern Europe this week. Next month, Washington is holding a big anniversary summit to unveil the American blueprint for NATO in the 21st century.
Sounds like the trans-Atlantic community is one big happy family? Wrong.
Whether the subject is NATO, Kosovo, or bananas, something has happened to our relations with our European allies. Even the British, who pride themselves on having a "special relationship" with America, are getting a little tetchy.
The current "banana war" did it for the British. They see Congress and the White House backing the American banana giant Chiquita (whose boss is a major contributor to both Republicans and Democrats) in a trade battle that is hurting Scottish weavers and poor Caribbean banana workers.
| CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton |
Meanwhile, the Italians are furious because the U.S. Marine pilot who caused 20 deaths by flying too low over an Italian ski resort has gotten off scot-free.
And there's more. The Europeans are grumbling about hormones in beef imported from America, and about our noisy older Boeing airliners, which they want to ban from landing on their side of the water from the year 2002.
Why is the trans-Atlantic climate turning frosty after a half century of warm relations with our friends and allies?
The answer is that the glue that once held us together is gone. With the disappearance of the Soviet threat, NATO has become an anachronism.. Russia won't be a real military threat to anyone for decades to come.
The Europeans are less willing to dance to Washington's tune because they no longer need America to defend them. They may be wrong, but that's the way they see things now. The Cold War has been replaced by a trans-Atlantic chill.
Written by CBS News Senior European Correspondent Tom Fenton
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