http://www.cis.org.au/Events/JBL/JBL04.htm Why European support for the US has waned (for some reason described in terms of “legitimacy”). “U.S. legitimacy among Europeans rested on three pillars, all based on the existence of the Soviet communist empire. The sturdiest pillar was Europe’s perception that the Soviet Union posed a strategic threat to the West—a reality made manifest by hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops parked in the center of Europe—and its understanding that only Washington possessed the power to deter Moscow. Europeans also perceived the Soviet Union as a common ideological threat. The United States prided itself on being the “leader of the free world,” and most Europeans agreed. Finally, Cold War bipolarity conferred what might be called ‘structural legitimacy’ on the United States. The two superpowers’ roughly equal strength meant that U.S. might, although vast, was kept in check.” 00:12
Gulfstream
Entry Posted November 20, 2004
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13x50 (13x50.blogspot.com):
… The News We Kept To Ourselves May 2003, Bernard Lewis: "I'm Right, You're Wrong, Go To Hell" Autumn 2003, Jed Rubenfeld: The Two World Orders Autumn 2004, Dave Grossman: On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs 11/9/2004, Robert Kagan:The Crisis of Legitimacy: America and the World12/10/2004, John Lukacs: The Triumph and Collapse of Liberalism 12/28/2004, Lionel Shriver: Shattered Glass, Battered Freedom January 2005, David Gelernter: Americanism -- and Its Enemies 9/5/2005, Bill Whittle: …
13-50 (13-50.blogspot.com):
… The News We Kept To Ourselves May 2003, Bernard Lewis: "I'm Right, You're Wrong, Go To Hell" Autumn 2003, Jed Rubenfeld: The Two World Orders Autumn 2004, Dave Grossman: On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs 11/9/2004, Robert Kagan:The Crisis of Legitimacy: America and the World12/10/2004, John Lukacs: The Triumph and Collapse of Liberalism 12/28/2004, Lionel Shriver: Shattered Glass, Battered Freedom January 2005, David Gelernter: Americanism -- and Its Enemies 9/5/2005, Bill Whittle: …
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