Obama the European

Jose M. de Areilza

March 1st, 2010

Many commentators are reading the wrong way Obama’s decision not to come to Europe for the EU-USA Summit, which has been postponed. He is accused of being insensitive with Europeans, of snubbing Spain, holder of the rotating EU presidency, or of lacking the sophistication of some of his predecessors, like Bill Clinton or Bush senior, who were true Europeanist. At the same time, these voices explain the shift in world power from the Atlantic to the Pacific and how Europe is shrinking in the new brave world of brave new China and the other emerging powers. And yet, I understand that Obama is doing us Europeans a big favor. He is a true believer in European integration, because he is forcing us to confront the hard realities of the XXIst century, where most challenges come from outside EU borders and the EU has to become a global actor if it wants to survive. Obama will be remembered –or not, it is up to us- as a founding father of European integration, second part!