In Europe and America, there’s a growing feeling of hysteria
Very interesting interview in Mother Jones with Timothy Garton Ash, British historian and author of a new book called “Free World: America, Europe and the Surprising Future of the West.”
It’s long and there’s too many good paragraphs to quote them all. But here’s a starter:
MJ.com: You don’t think we’ll see a kinder, gentler Bush administration, chastened by its experience in Iraq?
TGA: Well, I think they feel vindicated by the American people, but they also feel – at least some of them – that they’re in a mess in Iraq. Also, Bush is looking to his place in the history books, and I think that’s very important. So, I think they will make a new opening to Europe and other allies, they’ll start with a more conciliatory tone. But the question is, will it survive another crisis? And I’m very skeptical about that. Iran could be the next crisis. If it looks like Iran has renewed uranium enrichment, for example, I think the Bush administration would get very tough, and they’ll say to hell with the consequences and to hell with the allies, and you’ll have another crisis.
The word that keeps pounding through my head as I’ve been travelling around – and I spent about a week in Washington – is hubris.
