Has the multilateral approach to Europe helped America?

Matthew Wallin October 2012 President Barack Obamas tenure has been characterized by a specific focus on rebuilding American relations with Europe. While a candidate, Obama placed great emphasis on reestablishing trust and a spirit of shared challenges with allies in Europe. Campaigning in 2008, Obama spoke to a crowd of over 200,000 in Berlin, stating: In Europe, the view that America is part of what has gone wrong in our world, rather than a force to help make it right, has become all too common. In America, there are voices that deride and deny the importance of Europe's role in our security and our future. Both views miss the truth - that Europeans today are bearing new burdens and taking more responsibility in critical parts of the world; and that just as American bases built in the last century still help to defend the security of this continent, so does our country still sacrifice greatly for freedom around the globe. Understanding the necessity of European cooperation for mutual security, Obama sought to reconnect with the publics of European countries, and according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project, mostly succeeded in doing so. Though reestablishing these relationships certainly helped improve the feeling of warmth in Europe towards America, Obama also understood that the relationship must go beyond those happy feelings and result in tangible action. After exploring the history of American cooperation with Germanyplacing emphasis on the story of the Berlin AirliftObama asked Germany (and Europe for that matter) for help: This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO's first mission beyond Europe's borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the

Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now. Four years later, have Obamas desires been heeded? In an effort to answer this question, I looked at the troop levels as indicated by the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan placemat in May or June (depending on availability) from 2007-2011. Between 2008 and 2011, troop contribution levels from France, Germany and the UK to ISAF saw significant increases. France, notably critical of the U.S. during the run-up to the Iraq war, more-than doubled its contribution to ISAF. Within this context, its important to note that while contributions from these three countries also increased in the period from 2007-2008, France and Germany had done so at a lower rate. Are President Obamas efforts to repair US-European relations directly attributable to this willingness to augment forces? This is unclear, especially when viewed against the increases of 2007-2008. Interestingly, when viewed as a percentage of total ISAF composition, the overall trend from 2008-2011 indicates that Frances contribution has remained roughly the same, Germanys has decreased, and the UKs has decreased significantly. This is attributable to the massive increase in American troop levels, which comprised roughly 44% of ISAF in 2008, and 68% in 2011. These numbers indicate that of these countries, only France increased its troops at a rate high enough to maintain a level of commitment consistent with the growing size of ISAF. Yet given this information, what can we conclude about President Obamas goals for repairing relations with Europe? While relations have certainly been warmer over the past four years, we must still ask whether these efforts have increased the commitment Europe has been willing to make on behalf of American policy objectives. Can it be argued that warmer relations allowed elected officials in these countries to increase the contributions of their nations at less political risk? The strongest answer to these questions is: maybe. Causality is difficult to prove. Looking beyond Afghanistan, there remains another question about Europes willingness to shoulder some the burden for security operations in other regions of the world, perhaps even negating the perceived or actual need for American involvement. The establishment of the no-fly zone over Libya witnessed a peculiarity in recent decades with regards to military operations. In this case, France and the UK led efforts ahead of the U.S. to establish a military operation overseas, while at the same time meeting staunch opposition from Germany. However, despite abstaining from the UN Security Council vote on the Libyan no-fly zone, Germany did agree to help by sending 300 troops to relieve other NATO forces tied up manning AWACS systems in Afghanistan. Clearly, it is in Americas interest to achieve greater European participation or leadership in overseas operations, especially given the status of the American economy. But was this the case

in Libya? Germanys split from the Anglo-French leadership certainly indicates disagreements within Western Europe, but not necessarily abdication from the concept of collective security or responsibility. Also of note with Libya, despite European leadership, American air power, supplies and capabilities proved vital to the coalitions ability to establish and maintain the no-fly zone. Ultimately, positive relations with any country, or continent for that matter, must be seen as advantageous to the countries that hold such relations. For the United States, positive relations with Europe, the EU, and their respective members is in its interest. But for now, the question for America will continue to revolve around how it can better tie its own financial and security interests into achieving greater participation from its European allies.
Matthew Wallin is a Senior Policy Analyst at the American Security Project and holds a Masters in Public Diplomacy from the University of Southern California. http://esharp.eu/be-our-guest/27-has-the-multilateral-approach-to-europe-helped-america/