In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson took care to explain the reasons for the colonies’ separation from Great Britain out of “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind. …”
The founders understood that they would need the goodwill of other nations if the fledgling nation were to succeed.
If an e-mail I got the recently is representative, many Americans, perhaps a large number of Americans, no longer think the opinions of mankind matter.
The e-mail came from a friend who I assume sent it to a list of right thinkers in his address book and perhaps to a few like me who just don’t get it.
The e-mail began:
“While on Obama's trip to Europe, he stated that ‘we are an arrogant country.’”
It listed the number of American dead in a military cemetery in France
“We Apologize.” it continued with undisguised sarcasm.
It listed the number of American dead in a cemetery in Belgium.
“We are arrogant.”
It listed the American dead in another cemetery in France.
“Excuse us.”
It listed more American dead in cemeteries in England, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Italy.
“IF ADDED CORRECTLY THE COUNT IS 104,366.”
“Apologize to no one. Remind those of our sacrifice and don't confuse arrogance with leadership.
“As Americans, let's all look forward to the next elections - to find a President who doesn't think we need to be ashamed.
“May God have mercy on us until this presidential term is over!”
What has the writer is foaming at the mouth is President Obama’s trip to Europe where he did in fact apologize for some of the strains in relations between the United States and Europe in the recent past.
What eludes me is the connection that the author of the e-mail tries to make.
What do American deaths on European battlefields in World Wars I and II have to do with whether in recent years we have been arrogant and dismissive?
Certainly, American sacrifices tilted World War I in favor of Britain and France. And without the United States, Britain and much of the rest of the world may have fallen to the Germans and their allies.
But in both wars we weren’t solely altruistic. We were fighting to preserve freedom in our own country.
When President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session of Congress on April 2, 1917, to request a declaration of war against Germany, he cited Germany's violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war.
In asking Congress to recognize that a state of war existed between the United States and Germany and between the United States and Italy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote, “On the morning of Dec. 11 the Government of Germany, pursuing its course of world conquest, declared war against the United States. The long-known and the long-expected has thus taken place. The forces endeavoring to enslave the entire world now are moving toward this hemisphere. Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization. Delay invites great danger. Rapid and united effort by all of the peoples of the world who are determined to remain free will insure a world victory of the forces of justice and of righteousness over the forces of savagery and of barbarism. Italy also has declared war against the United States.”
If, as the e-mail’s author suggests, we are exempt from criticism from Europe because of the sacrifices we made in two wars, then we have no right to criticize France, because without that country’s support, the colonies probably would have lost the War for Independence.
President Obama didn’t crawl to Europe on his knees. In its coverage of his speech in Strasbourg, France, The Telegraph of London said that he went further than any United States president in history in criticizing his own country’s action while standing on foreign soil.
“But,” The Telegraph said, “he sought to use the mea culpa as leverage to alter European views of America and secure more troops for the war in Afghanistan.
“He declared that there had to be a fundamental shift on both sides of the Atlantic. ‘America is changing but it cannot be America alone that changes,’ ” he said.
“Addressing a crowd of some 2,000 mainly students from France and Germany, Mr. Obama said: ‘In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.’
“He then balanced this striking admission with a tough message to Europeans that blaming America was foolish.
“’But in Europe, there is an anti-Americanism that is at once casual, but can also be insidious. Instead of recognizing the good that America so often does in the world, there have been times where Europeans choose to blame America for much of what is bad.’
“On both sides of the Atlantic, these attitudes have become all too common. They are not wise. They do not represent the truth. They threaten to widen the divide across the Atlantic and leave us both more isolated. They fail to acknowledge the fundamental truth that America cannot confront the challenges of this century alone, but that Europe cannot confront them without America.’"
In his debate with Al Gore at Wake Forest University on Oct. 11, 2000, George W. Bush said he didn’t think other nations should look at the United States with envy. “It really depends upon how [our] nation conducts itself in foreign policy. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll resent us. If we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us. Our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power. And that’s why we’ve got to be humble and yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom. We’re a freedom-loving nation. If we’re an arrogant nation, they’ll view us that way, but if we’re humble nation, they’ll respect us.”
I think we have to cut the Bush Administration some slack in light of the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
But we also have to admit that his promise to treat foreign countries with humility quickly went by the boards. We divided nations into those that were for us or against us, ignoring the fact that other nations might have their own national interests and problems. We were dismissive and derisive of those who didn’t fall into lockstep. Remember “Freedom Fries?”
We were the most powerful nation on earth and that was what counted. We based our national strategy on our military dominance.
That has its drawbacks. In his 1987 book “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers,” Paul Kennedy observed that “…the United States now runs the risk, so familiar to historians of the rise and fall of previous Great Powers, of what might roughly be called ‘imperial overstretch’: that is to say, decision makers in Washington must face the awkward and enduring fact that the sum total of the United States’ global interests and obligations is nowadays far larger than the country’s power to defend them all simultaneously.”
Time has validated Kennedy’s thesis.
For the moment at least (watch the Chinese), we are the greatest military power on earth. But like Gulliver among the Lilliputs, we have found that a giant can be hamstrung by midgets.
We cannot go it alone. President Obama ought to be cut a little slack in trying to regain the respect and cooperation of the Europeans, especially since we did a lot to alienate them.
“…don't confuse arrogance with leadership.” Right. Leaders have followers. People follow out of respect, not fear.
“Apologize to no one. …”
That strikes me as, well, arrogant.
Contract the writer at billatthelake@gmail.com
