„HOW MUCH WE CAN DO” (excerpts)
“The Washington Post” editorial, June 17, 2001

President Bush may not have won over many of his European critics during his tour of the continent last week, but he did accomplish something that could, over time, prove more important. In his meetings with European leaders and in his major speech in Warsaw, Mr. Bush outlined an ambitious and worthy set of goals for United States engagement with Europe. First, Mr. Bush underlined his hope to replace the Cold War security architecture with a new framework that would take into account the end of the East-West standoff as well as the emergence of new threats. Second, he committed his administration to lead an expansion of NATO that could eventually extend the security commitment of the United States to nations from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. (...) Mr. Bush's (...) proposal, for NATO expansion, has the advantage of a successful precedent in the 1997 admission of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, which Mr. Bush rightly extolled as a bridge to new democracies to the east and south. Prodded by Mr. Bush, NATO's current members reached consensus last week that a summit in Prague next year should admit at least one new member; but Mr. Bush was right to urge in Warsaw that in deciding the expansion, "we should not calculate how little we can get away with, but how much we can do." By articulating the principle that "all European democracies that seek" NATO membership "and are ready to share the responsibility" should eventually be admitted, Mr. Bush set the stage for farreaching U.S. engagement with countries ranging from the Baltic states to those of the troubled Balkans. All aspire to NATO membership, and all will now seek U.S. guidance in shaping their democratic and military institutions. To keep faith with its newly articulated vision, the Bush administration must be ready to respond to those nations -- and not only in some far-off future when they are full NATO members. (...)     u