University Times

Europe and the United States probably will continue to squabble over trade subsidies, defense burden-sharing, and the pros and cons of hormone-fortified poultry, British Labour Party member of Parliament Denis MacShane told a Pitt audience last week.

But as a new century begins, both sides of the North Atlantic share an all-but-unshakable commitment to democracy, free trade and the rule of law, he noted.

Economic and military policy disagreements between America and Europe are "manageable," MacShane said in a Feb. 5 lecture, "The European Union and the United States: Partners or Rivals?"

"Where there are emerging problems between America and Europe," he cautioned, "is in the area of conflicting values."

MacShane contended that Europe, in contrast to the United States, is committed to building inclusive societies where all citizens are guaranteed health care, a good education and adequate housing. "It is what's left of the post-war welfare sentiment, but it is very much going to remain a core element of European values," MacShane said.

In Europe, social liberalism (decriminalization of cannibas, legal recognition of same-sex marriages, etc.) is In; private ownership of guns is Out — the mirror image of America. The UK recently banned private citizens from owning handguns. "Anyone want to run [for political office in America] with that one?" MacShane asked, as his faculty and student audience in 4E51 Posvar Hall laughed.

While European leaders use increasingly harsh language to condemn capital punishment, the United States continues to execute prisoners. MacShane noted that America would be disqualified from joining the EU's Council of Europe because the Council bans countries that perform state executions.

The EU, with a population nearly twice that of the United States, imprisons one-tenth as many people. "Clearly, American unemployment figures are helped when you keep 2 million prime-age males in prison," MacShane quipped.

And while most American cities roll up their sidewalks at night, Europe remains committed to a Renaissance vision of cities as centers of social and political development — as well as fun places to hang around after work, MacShane said.

In contrast to America (where "the past is something that appears in museums," MacShane said), European societies cannot escape their histories, he said. "The values of our history just permeate everywhere," Mac-Shane said. "I'm part Irish, and we have our little problem in Northern Ireland; it's still not resolved….I have the impression that the United States is a nation that's continually seeking to define a future and to break from the past. The past in European societies is economically, architecturally, culturally a part of your being."

MacShane repeatedly interrupted himself to say: "Believe me, I'm not making a moral judgment here." European values aren't better or worse than American ones, he said — "but they are different."

Among the other EU-America issues that MacShane talked about were:

* European heterogeneity. Despite vanishing trade barriers within the EU and a common currency, "Europe will not come together as a single super-state," MacShane said. National and regional autonomy actually is growing, he said, noting the following: There are now more European nations than ever, including eight where Yugoslavia used to be. Within the United Kingdom, Scotland and Wales now have their own parliaments and substantial self-governing powers. France recently granted semi-national status to Corsica. In Spain, Catalonia and the Basque region are distancing themselves from the central government.

* English as an international language. "Our political leaders are all learning one another's languages," said MacShane, a leading international trade union official who serves as the joint Parliamentary secretary to the UK Ministers of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

MacShane, who is fluent in French and German, said: "It's a lie that English is going to become the international language. It's becoming a common language, but it will not dominate."

In Europe, where television networks broadcast in dozens of languages, TV actually sustains cultural heterogeneity, Mac-Shane said. "There's no European CNN. There's no European Dan Rather."

MacShane said he's fascinated by the growth of Spanish as a second language in the United States. But America doesn't begin to compare with the EU in terms of linguistic diversity, he said.

When an audience member suggested that the spread of English as an international language might promote peace and mutual understanding among nations, MacShane commented: "Well, French was the international language from about 1500 to 1900, and you'll remember how the world lived in peace and harmony back then."

* Defense. While the U.S.A. continues to spend proportionately more than Europe on defense, the gap is narrowing, MacShane said. According to NATO, last year America spent 3 percent of its GDP on defense, while France spent 2.7 percent and Britain spent 2.4 percent.

MacShane said Europe "needs to get more of its act together on defense. We found that out in Kosovo par-ticularly…when we had to rely 100 percent on America for effective air attacks and intelligent satellites.

"But America had to rely almost 100 percent on Europe for putting men on the ground," he added. "You can win battles through air supremacy, but you can't actually [use air power to] occupy countries and change regimes," as the West found out in Iraq in 1990. "On the other hand, we occupied Kosovo, which meant that Milosovic no longer could play the Kosovo card inside Serbia. It took him a year to go, but he's gone."

Some 48,000 EU troops currently are stationed in Bosnia and Kosovo, compared with 11,400 U.S. troops, he pointed out.

The United States still does the lion's share of defending the North Atlantic alliance, MacShane acknowledged. "But in terms of 'soft power,' Europe does more," he said. "Between 1988 and 1998, America contributed $9 billion in overseas development funds to poor nations. The EU gave $27 billion.

"America says Europe needs to get tough," MacShane added. "But if you look at which nations actually help to spread the message of liberal market democracy, Europe is spending much more than the United States.

"If you look at recent history," he concluded, "every serious defense of democratic values has required America and Europe to work very closely together," including in Kosovo and the Gulf War. "Where we've tried to go it alone, we haven't succeeded, as in [America's military action in] Somalia."

* Protectionism and agriculture. America and the EU are always bickering over subsidies, MacShane said. "America doesn't like the [government financial] help that AirBus gets. Europe looks at the $350 billion that the U.S. Department of Defense funnels into Boeing and says, 'If that's not a tax subsidy, what is?'"

What's strange is that both America and the EU, with all of their technological sophistication, continue to subsidize domestic agriculture, MacShane said. "Between us, we commit daily crimes against the rest of the world by protecting our respective farming communities" at the expense of poor nations whose agricultural goods are effectively barred from U.S. and EU markets.

* Franco-American relations. Recently, Germany and Britain have argued over which country is truly "America's Best Friend."

"France, as you know, says: 'We are not America's best friend,'" said MacShane. "But that is typical because France's problem is that France wants to be America. You always hate what you are. France, like America, is an 18th century, universalist state that believes it's got a divine mission to recreate the world on its own model." MacShane said he's entitled to make such comments, as the husband of a Frenchwoman.

MacShane's lecture was co-sponsored by the European Union Center at Pitt's Center for West European Studies, Pitt's cultural studies department and International Business Center, and the United Steelworkers of America.

— Bruce Steele