BuzzMachine

The other side of the ocean
: Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan writes in the Jerusalem Post about the growing split between America and Europe.

It would seem, then, that the trans-Atlantic rift, and the anti-Americanism it inspires on the European side, is not a transient affair. Rather, it reflects basic philosophical differences rooted in the realities of power. Put bluntly, Americans believe in power as a legitimate instrument of national policy because Americans have power. Europeans eschew the use of power in favor of diplomacy, international conventions and foreign aid because they don’t have power. One side practices the strategy of the strong; the other, the strategy of the weak.

That’s the lead article in a whole package under the provocative (especially for Israel) title: Why do they hate America?

In another piece, Per Ahlmark, former deputy PM of Sweden, looks critically at five faces of anti-Americanism in old Europe.

Instead of supporting Israel together with America, Europe has taken part in the delegitimization of the Jewish state, not least when voting for extreme resolutions in the UN. This outrageous part of European foreign policy might change in the future when countries, which were recently liberated from communism, become full members of the European Union.

But the jury is still out here. Will Poland, the Czech Republic and the other new democracies of Europe make the EU more understanding of both America’s responsibilities and Israel’s struggle to defend itself? Or will France, Belgium and some other old democracies contaminate also East and Central Europe with their anti-Americanism and repeated condemnations of Israel?

Moshe Zimmerman writes about German schizophrenia regarding America:

Being a nation that was beaten, liberated, occupied and economically catapulted by America, creates a serious psychological problem for Germany: how to be thankful and bear a grudge at the same time?

And there is much more. Click away here.