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The European Community as a Global Power: Implications for the United States
- SAIS Review
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 13, Number 1, Winter-Spring 1993
- pp. 77-88
- 10.1353/sais.1993.0011
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY AS A GLOBAL POWER: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE UNITED STATES by Mark S. Mahaney W,hat a difference a year makes! For the European Community, 1992 began with optimism and hope. The Single Market Program was nearing completion, the newly signed Maastricht Treaty on European Union promised monetary union and greater political coordination among the twelve member states, and the EC was assuming an increasingly prominent role on such international issues as aid to the former Soviet Union and the breakup of Yugoslavia. The year ended, however, with pessimism and even despair. Recession now stalks Western Europe; the Maastricht Treaty has been rejected by Denmark, endorsed by the slightest margin in France, and may very well be rejected by the United Kingdom. The EC has come under mounting criticism for its ineffectiveness in preventing the splintering ofYugoslavia and economic disaster in the former Soviet republics. With economic stagnation sinking in and the movement toward political integration faltering, it may seem odd to refer to the EC as an emerging global power. A look at the long-term economic and political fundamentals behind the Community's current status nevertheless validates this appraisal. Despite the difficulties ofMaastricht, the Twelve's Single Market Program has proceeded steadily and is now mostly in place, creating the Mark S. Mahaney is an associate with the Council on Competitiveness, a nonprofit , non-partisan organization of chief executives from business, education and labor. He returned last year from an eight-month assignment as the Deputy Trade Policy Officer at the U.S. Mission to the European Community in Brussels. Mr. Mahaney is a former editor of the SAIS Review. 77 78 SAIS REVIEW world's most populous and wealthy integrated market. This unmistakeably affects the United States. The history of European integration has always been one of fits and starts. There is little question that integration is stymied, but this is surely temporary. Various factors, including the underlying strength ofmost West European economies and a desire to confront American and Japanese competitiveness , make the resurgence ofEuropean integration very likely soon. What does this mean for the United States? Lester Thurow, the guru ofconventional economic wisdom, argued in his recent book, Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan, Europe, and America, that as a result ofthe Single Market Program, the "House ofEurope will be writing the rules of world trade in the twenty-first century." Congressman Sam Gejdenson, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Economic Policy, Trade, and the Environment, warned two years ago that without a longterm U.S. strategy for dealing with Europe, the EC could "go the way of Japan," meaning ever larger trade deficits for the United States. Even the Pentagon watches the Community warily. A leaked and then widely reported draft of its 1992-1997 Defense Planning Guidance hinted that EC integration in the defense field would undermine NATO. It would seem difficult to square these fears ofan emerging EC international power with the current pessimism about the Community's ability to preserve its influence and enlarge its membership. Yetto a certain extent opponents ofthe EC are right. To America's economic and political leverage in Europe and around the world, the EC represents a new and potent challenge. As shown by its role in recent international developments: the Uruguay Round breakdown, the violent breakup of Yugoslavia, and commercial clashes over advanced technology markets like aircraft and telecommunications , the Community has attained such formdidable influence that U.S. policymakers and businesses are increasingly forced to develop their policies and strategies with an eye to how they will play not only in Peoria, but in Poitiers, Pisa, and Potsdam. But viewed from a more sophisticated perspective, in which U.S. policy has a purpose beyond preserving power, the emergence of the European Community as a global power presents Americans with new opportunities. The EC shares similar goals with the United States, namely, stability in Europe, the promotion of generally free markets, and democratic political systems around the world. Further, the transformation of U.S. policy towards Europe under the Bush administration has set a precendent for a more constructive political relationship between the U.S. and the EC. The emergence...