Europe needs its own foreign policy

The daily El País examines current international policy in the context of the past few centuries and advises Europe to develop its own independent foreign policy: "The real question [after the Cold War ended] and now is: does the unilateral dominance of the US guarantee world peace or must world peace be based on a multilateral order that ... puts the common good before individual interests. The US made the grave mistake of relying on the unilateral defence of its absolute hegemony. ... The events in Georgia and Russia's actions, which were preceded by similar actions by the West in the case of Kosovo, as well as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's attempt to gain Chinese support for his actions make it clear which direction international policy is taking: the forging of alliances based on common interests with the goal of defending one's own interests and defining those of others. In this context Europe must ask itself a few questions: must it always play the role of the US's sidekick within NATO? Could Europe not adopt its own stance on Russia, one that takes account of its energy dependency as well as the problems that will arise between Russia and China regarding Siberia? Is it not likely that the US will soon focus on developing a special relationship with China ... and downgrade its relations with Europe?"

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