NATO versus the European Union

Summary:

The aftermath of the Iraq war could turn NATO and the European Union into rivals.

SO WHAT do the European politicians who spent so much time trying to prevent war in Iraq make of things now? Their reaction to the victory of the American and British forces is, so far, confused and grudging. In the early stages of the war Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, dodged a question about whether he even wanted the coalition forces to win - before rushing out a clarification that of course he favoured victory for the allies. But, though official statements from European politicians who opposed the war now tend to be soothing and conciliatory about the United States, occasionally the mask (or the tongue) slips and naked hostility emerges. Guy Verhofstadt, Belgium's prime minister, recently said that the United States is “a deeply wounded power that has now become very dangerous and thinks it must take over the whole Arab world.