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| Europe will miss Barack Obama. But maybe he didn’t care for us Europe will miss Barack Obama. But maybe he didn’t care for us | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Dear Barack, we will miss you. We will miss you sorely now that a nationalist-populist bigot – whose credo is “Americanism, not globalism” – is heading to the White House. We will miss your rationality, your sophistication, your elegance. | Dear Barack, we will miss you. We will miss you sorely now that a nationalist-populist bigot – whose credo is “Americanism, not globalism” – is heading to the White House. We will miss your rationality, your sophistication, your elegance. |
| But many of us in Europe are also dumbstruck and distressed by what you leave us with, just as we are puzzled by your statements of “cautious optimism” about your successor. | But many of us in Europe are also dumbstruck and distressed by what you leave us with, just as we are puzzled by your statements of “cautious optimism” about your successor. |
| Of course, you’re not responsible for everything. In the first speech you gave on European soil as president (in Strasbourg, April 2009), you said that “every nation bears responsibility for what lies ahead”, not just America. We get that. And we know that, from the eurozone crisis to Brexit and the rise of our own brand of populists, the old continent has its share of serious failings. But now, after what you yourself have described as “the greatest political upset in modern American history”, we are left shaken. | Of course, you’re not responsible for everything. In the first speech you gave on European soil as president (in Strasbourg, April 2009), you said that “every nation bears responsibility for what lies ahead”, not just America. We get that. And we know that, from the eurozone crisis to Brexit and the rise of our own brand of populists, the old continent has its share of serious failings. But now, after what you yourself have described as “the greatest political upset in modern American history”, we are left shaken. |
| You’ve often said, quoting Martin Luther King, that the “arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. We in Europe aren’t so sure of that. In fact, we’ve never been. Perhaps this is what separates American exceptionalism from European scepticism. Europeans have sleepwalked into catastrophe several times in the last century. The US stepped in twice to save us from our own self-destructive forces. | You’ve often said, quoting Martin Luther King, that the “arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. We in Europe aren’t so sure of that. In fact, we’ve never been. Perhaps this is what separates American exceptionalism from European scepticism. Europeans have sleepwalked into catastrophe several times in the last century. The US stepped in twice to save us from our own self-destructive forces. |
| On this last European tour, you’ve said you “remain optimistic about the direction that the world is going in”. Yet it’s hard not to see dark clouds gathering. Europe is now stuck between an America that has all but turned its back on liberal democratic values, a resurgent Russia set to capitalise, and the chaos spilling out of the Middle East. | On this last European tour, you’ve said you “remain optimistic about the direction that the world is going in”. Yet it’s hard not to see dark clouds gathering. Europe is now stuck between an America that has all but turned its back on liberal democratic values, a resurgent Russia set to capitalise, and the chaos spilling out of the Middle East. |
| Barack, you leave us with beautiful sweeping speeches, including ones about Europe that our own leaders seem unable to produce. This week you called the EU “one of the great political and economic achievements of human history”. We will miss that eloquence. We won’t be getting any of it from Trump. | Barack, you leave us with beautiful sweeping speeches, including ones about Europe that our own leaders seem unable to produce. This week you called the EU “one of the great political and economic achievements of human history”. We will miss that eloquence. We won’t be getting any of it from Trump. |
| It’s clear you’re counting on Angela Merkel to carry the mantle of the west now. You’ve visibly encouraged her to seek another term in office next year – even saying you’d vote for her if you could. After all, the UK is fast marginalising itself, and France is economically in the doldrums. Ahead of key European elections next year, extremism is on the rise. | It’s clear you’re counting on Angela Merkel to carry the mantle of the west now. You’ve visibly encouraged her to seek another term in office next year – even saying you’d vote for her if you could. After all, the UK is fast marginalising itself, and France is economically in the doldrums. Ahead of key European elections next year, extremism is on the rise. |
| You called the EU 'one of the great political and economic achievements of human history'. We will miss that eloquence | You called the EU 'one of the great political and economic achievements of human history'. We will miss that eloquence |
| You’re not denying the problems. On this trip, you’ve rightly warned against “complacency”. In a press conference alongside Merkel in Berlin, you said: “Because we have lived in an era that has been largely stable and peaceful, at least in advanced countries, there is a tendency to assume that that’s always the case. And it’s not.” But it’s still baffling to hear you say that “history gives us hope”, even if it can “move in zigzags”. We in Europe can be very doubtful about that. | You’re not denying the problems. On this trip, you’ve rightly warned against “complacency”. In a press conference alongside Merkel in Berlin, you said: “Because we have lived in an era that has been largely stable and peaceful, at least in advanced countries, there is a tendency to assume that that’s always the case. And it’s not.” But it’s still baffling to hear you say that “history gives us hope”, even if it can “move in zigzags”. We in Europe can be very doubtful about that. |
| Your message is surely intended to reassure and prevent panic, just as it is meant to salvage your legacy. You say you’re confident that Donald Trump will uphold alliances. You hope he will be “tough” with Putin’s Russia and won’t seek to strike deals to the detriment of “smaller countries”. You’ve also indicated that the weight of America’s foreign policy establishment would act as a bulwark against Trump’s maverick streak. (Interestingly, that means you’re suddenly relying on people in Washington that one of your close advisers castigated not, so long ago, as “the blob”.) | Your message is surely intended to reassure and prevent panic, just as it is meant to salvage your legacy. You say you’re confident that Donald Trump will uphold alliances. You hope he will be “tough” with Putin’s Russia and won’t seek to strike deals to the detriment of “smaller countries”. You’ve also indicated that the weight of America’s foreign policy establishment would act as a bulwark against Trump’s maverick streak. (Interestingly, that means you’re suddenly relying on people in Washington that one of your close advisers castigated not, so long ago, as “the blob”.) |
| Europe was enthralled when you were first elected. We haven’t forgotten. You were the antidote to the Bush years. But before too much nostalgia sets in, here are two large regrets. First, it never felt like Europe really interested you – even if you choose to make it your second-last foreign destination as president. Asia was always your great foreign policy passion – you once called yourself “America’s first Pacific president”. | Europe was enthralled when you were first elected. We haven’t forgotten. You were the antidote to the Bush years. But before too much nostalgia sets in, here are two large regrets. First, it never felt like Europe really interested you – even if you choose to make it your second-last foreign destination as president. Asia was always your great foreign policy passion – you once called yourself “America’s first Pacific president”. |
| But now you seem to turn to it, or at least to Germany, as one of the last remaining beacons of values. You should have perhaps nurtured Europe more, and earlier. Your apparent aloofness from it over the years sent the signal that it mattered much less to America. This has opened avenues for Putin and those European politicians who admire him – and this happened way before the Russian president sent a “beautiful letter” to Trump. | But now you seem to turn to it, or at least to Germany, as one of the last remaining beacons of values. You should have perhaps nurtured Europe more, and earlier. Your apparent aloofness from it over the years sent the signal that it mattered much less to America. This has opened avenues for Putin and those European politicians who admire him – and this happened way before the Russian president sent a “beautiful letter” to Trump. |
| Because America’s influence has historically helped cement Europe, your distraction from it has come at a cost. A once rock-solid transatlantic link started to fray. Now, with what we know of Trump, it’s likely that separate European nations will hedge their bets and act individually – not in unity. Merkel’s Germany is strong, but it cannot offer the security umbrella that Europe was built under. This is why it is more of a slogan than a policy to say that the German chancellor has become leader of the west. | Because America’s influence has historically helped cement Europe, your distraction from it has come at a cost. A once rock-solid transatlantic link started to fray. Now, with what we know of Trump, it’s likely that separate European nations will hedge their bets and act individually – not in unity. Merkel’s Germany is strong, but it cannot offer the security umbrella that Europe was built under. This is why it is more of a slogan than a policy to say that the German chancellor has become leader of the west. |
| Second, you’ve overlooked the effect your Middle East policies would have on Europe. Fighting Islamic State was your number one priority, stopping the massacres carried out by the Assad regime much less so. In the west Europe has felt the brunt of this humanitarian disaster. Refugee movements have upended the continent’s politics. As Merkel said this week, the vast majority of Syrians who reached Germany were fleeing Assad, not Isis. | Second, you’ve overlooked the effect your Middle East policies would have on Europe. Fighting Islamic State was your number one priority, stopping the massacres carried out by the Assad regime much less so. In the west Europe has felt the brunt of this humanitarian disaster. Refugee movements have upended the continent’s politics. As Merkel said this week, the vast majority of Syrians who reached Germany were fleeing Assad, not Isis. |
| Europe, it’s true, has been unable to deal with the Syrian bloodbath. But US-Russia dialogue, carried out over Europe’s head, has done little to stop Putin’s strategy of fuelling the war by supporting Assad, and then gleefully watching its fallout in Europe. The man in the Kremlin now hopes that, with Trump, there will be Russian geopolitical gains on the continent. | Europe, it’s true, has been unable to deal with the Syrian bloodbath. But US-Russia dialogue, carried out over Europe’s head, has done little to stop Putin’s strategy of fuelling the war by supporting Assad, and then gleefully watching its fallout in Europe. The man in the Kremlin now hopes that, with Trump, there will be Russian geopolitical gains on the continent. |
| As you bid farewell to Europe, many of us look back on your presidency with mixed feelings. We will continue to admire the way you carried yourself, how well you spoke, and what you tried to inspire globally – but are left with the feeling that in Europe – and granted, for reasons that you cannot be held entirely accountable for – the “arc of history” is not at all bending in the right direction. These days it’s not Martin Luther King we are tempted to quote, but Stefan Zweig. In his World of Yesterday, the writer lamented “the most terrible defeat of reason and the most savage triumph of brutality”. | As you bid farewell to Europe, many of us look back on your presidency with mixed feelings. We will continue to admire the way you carried yourself, how well you spoke, and what you tried to inspire globally – but are left with the feeling that in Europe – and granted, for reasons that you cannot be held entirely accountable for – the “arc of history” is not at all bending in the right direction. These days it’s not Martin Luther King we are tempted to quote, but Stefan Zweig. In his World of Yesterday, the writer lamented “the most terrible defeat of reason and the most savage triumph of brutality”. |