Finnes det en middelvei mellom Europas pasifisme og USAs stadig større vilje til å bruke våpen? spør Robert Kagan i The Guardian. Det er bare én leder som kan klare å forene USA og Europa igjen, mener han. Det er Tony Blair.

The majority of Blair’s critics today judge him strictly by whether he successfully impedes Bush’s march to war. But, of course, that is not and never has been Blair’s purpose. The prime minister is one of the few leaders in Europe and the UK to comprehend fully the most dangerous phenomenon of the new era, the potential nexus between international terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

«Those who simply oppose the war under any circumstances may judge Blair a failure for not stopping Bush, although the charge is a bit absurd given that Blair himself is not opposed to war. But those who claim their primary concern is the upholding of international law and the strengthening of the UN security council as the only legitimate authority for declaring war against Iraq – as so many of Blair’s Labour party critics do claim – have no business at all being critical of Blair. Rather, if they are sincere in their assertion that the issue is international order and not peace for peace’s sake, then they should be applauding and supporting Blair and turning their anger elsewhere.»

For instance, across the channel. The French government today may pose as the great champion of the European vision of world order. But Europeans and Britons should ask themselves whether French policy strengthens or weakens the UN security council? France and Germany, if they hold to their present course, may succeed only in convincing a new generation of Americans that the UN security council is feckless. From a strictly European perspective, this would be a great missed opportunity.