NATO's Anglosphere option
| Published date | 01 March 2005 |
| Date | 01 March 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200506000112 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DOUGLAS
STUART
NATO's
Anglosphere
option
Closing
the
distance
between
Mars
and
1-7enus
-
INTRODUCTION
te
period since the terrorist attacks
of
11 September 2001 should
have been a golden age in transatlantic security relations. More impor-
tantly, it could have been. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks,
there was virtual unanimity among the members
of
the
North
Atlantic
Treaty Organization
(NATO)
that al Qaeda represented a direct threat
to the
common
values
and
interests
of
all
NATO
members.
Within
days,
and
for
the
first time in its 52-year history,
the
alliance had
invoked article 5
of
the
NATO
treaty (the "all for one" collective defence
clause) in order to assure the
us
that it could count on the unanimous
support
of
all allied governments. For its part, Washington issued a
series
of
statements which indicated that the
us
understood that the
global war on terror
(GWOT)
could only succeed
if
it was managed as a
broad-based campaign
of
multilateral security cooperation. Two-and-
a-halfyears later, this
post-9fll
world seems as remote as a fairy tale.
Bilateral relations between Washington and key European allies are on
life support.
NATO
has more members and more missions than it did
before September 11,
but
there is a pervasive sense
of
confusion about
Douglas
Stuart
holds
theJ
William
and
Helen
D. Stuart Chairin International
Studies
at
Dickinson
College.
Heis
also
an adjunct
professor
at the
us
Army
~r
College.
Bothinstitutions arein
Carlisle,
Pennsylvania.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter
2004--2005
Douglas
Stuart
the
alliance's fundamental purpose,
and
a deep sense
of
pessimism
about its future.
This essaywill look for some ofthe causes
of
NATO's
current crises. I
will
not
apportion blame equally, because the Bush administration is
primarily responsible for the problems
that
currently plague
the
alliance. I will place a special emphasis on the arguments
of
President
Bush'sneoconservative advisers, who have exercisedsuch an enormous
influence over
us
foreign policy since
the
attacks
of
11 September
2001. Richard Perle's and David Frum's study, entitled AnEnd to
Evil,
will be accorded particular attention, since it can be read as the neo-
conservative equivalent
of
Luther's 95 theses (the religious analogy is
not coincidental).' In the end,
of
course, George W. Bush must take
responsibility for his administration's policies, regardless
of
the influ-
ence exercised by the members
of
the neocon community.
My critique
of
the Bush administration will be followed by an analy-
sis
of
certain arguments
that
have gained credence
among
many
European intellectuals
and
policymakers. In this regard, I will place a
special emphasis on the writings and speeches
of
French philosopher
Etienne Balibar, an emeritus professor at
the
University
of
Paris
x-
Nanterres
and
adistinguished professor
of
humanities at the
University
of
California, Irvine. Balibar is an articulate and influential
representative
of
acommunity
of
postmodern, anti-statist and quasi-
pacifist intellectuals who are generally suspicious
of
both
NATO
and the
United States. He has published several influential
essays
on European
democratization, the evolving nature
of
sovereignty,and the concept
of
European citizenship (particularly in contradistinction to the status
of
sans-papiers
within the borders
of
western Europe). Balibar has also
written on the
EU's
relations with,
and
obligations toward, its neigh-
bours to the east
and
south, and about Europe's distinct role as a "civi-
lizing influence in the world."!
This
study will focus on these more
wide-ranging statements by Balibar about Europe's proper place in the
world.
The
"Martian"
excesses
of
the neoconservatives and the "Venutian"
fantasies
of
European
and
Canadian commentators such as Balibar
1
David
Frum
and
Richard
Perle,
AnEndto Evil:Howto
Win
the
War
on
Terror(New
York:
Random
House,
2003).
2
We,
The
People
ofEurope?(Princeton,
NJ:
Princeton
University
Press,
2004),
218.
Thiscollection of Balibar's
speeches
providesa goodsurvey of his views on us-
European
relationsand
Europe's
distinct mission.
172
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter2004-2005
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