Andreas Whittam-Smith on a shift of power from US to Europe

"Influence is slowly shifting from the US to Europe so far as the Middle East is concerned," comments Andreas Whittam-Smith, co-founder and chronicler of the daily, evaluating current European intervention in the region. "It is not so much that Europe has become stronger, but that the US appears weaker ... At the same time, a change in the political leadership of America's main allies is under way. First to go was the Spanish Prime Minister, the conservative Jose Maria Aznar. He resigned in 2004 and his party lost the subsequent elections. Then in April 2006, Italy's Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi was also kicked out by the voters. And our own Tony Blair has been given notice to quit by his party ... Their successors will silently acknowledge previous policy failures and adjust accordingly."

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