Left Flank

Washington should be wary of a family quarrel.

«The Eastern Europeans totally saw this [Russian resurgence] coming,» says former US ambassador to Romania, James Rosapepe. «In Romania the attitude was, we have to get into NATO before Russian power returns.»

German officials and many European NATO officials argue that it is simply unrealistic to provoke Russia by allowing its immediate neighbors into the alliance. They say Russia's actions in Georgia vindicates this point. Berlin takes a very careful and consistent position on the importance of understanding Moscow, one Western diplomat points out.

Yet Polish officials are quick to point out that Germany was the most powerful and insistent voice throughout the 1990s for getting Poland into NATO - as a way to create a buffer zone between Germany and Russia. Now that Poland is in NATO, Germany has changed its tune, they say, showing indifference to Poland's own interests in a similar buffer zone. They argue it is in Germany's commercial interest to advocate balanced restraint and sensitivity to Moscow.

Along with the non-Russian provinces of Ukraine and the Baltic trio, as well as the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Romanians, eastern Europe hardly includes the sort of dependable, responsible friends the US wants to have as allies. It's more like a gaggle of goslings waiting for a meal. Without Germany, Washington doesn't need such fair weather buddies feeding an addiction for bad strategy.

Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, gets high marks for trumping Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, for rhetorical skill. Characterizing how the US and Russia are "bored with the cold atmosphere" is pithier than Putin's checklist appeal to every progressive cause in the Bush administration's doghouse.

«In effect we are being forced to retaliate,» he said in a speech to Russia's influential State Council, a gathering of political and business leaders. «Russia has, and always will have, responses to these new challenges,» he said to applause.

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«Nato itself is expanding. It's approaching our borders. We drew down our bases in Cuba and in Vietnam. What did we get? New American bases in Romania, Bulgaria. A new third missile defence region in Poland.

«We are categorically being told these actions aren't directed at Russia, and therefore our concerns are completely unfounded. That's not a constructive response.

«It's already clear that a new arms race is being unleashed across the world ... It's not our fault, we didn't start it,» he said.

He claimed growing foreign interest in Russia was being fuelled by a «mounting struggle for resources», while attempts by foreign governments to interfere in Russian politics were «immoral and illegal».

«We see how under the guise of declarations for freedom and open society the sovereignty of countries and entire regions is being destroyed,» he said in a clear nod to the US campaign in Iraq. «Many conflicts, foreign policy acts and diplomatic démarches smell of oil and gas.»

There's some choice material here, but I still prefer Tusk's grasp on reality.

Wake up!

Europeans may not always like it, but America still matters most for their security. As Kosovo edges towards independence, NATO ponders further expansion and Russia rips Europe's threadbare energy policy to rags, every debate involves America. And the mood is gloomy.

I'm surprised The Economist can actually write something like "Europeans".

Largely silent is the EU, whose members appear more concerned over institutional reform and emissions targets than geopolitical issues. That worries the Americans. They seem to have settled a row with Poland over a planned missile-defence base. But not much else is going right. Ron Asmus, a former American diplomat now at the German Marshall Fund, a think-tank, frets publicly about a «rollback» of the West's influence in eastern Europe. He is not the only one.

Sales must be suffering on the continent?