Old Europe, Young World

A Triumph for Old Europe

America Confronts Old and New Europe

The Bush administration distinguished itself by driving a wedge between old Europe and new Europe.

Regardless of what happens, all Europe needs to get past clichés about old versus new Europe.

Still others for example, Slovenia stood on the side of old Europe.

In particular, the leaders of Old Europe have been reluctant to open up their coffers for the countries of New Europe.

The break with communism and reunification of Europe is now almost two decades old.

In Eastern Europe today, old and young alike stand to benefit from that lesson.

Nowadays at the College of Europe, the culture of doubt among students from Old Europe seems to prevail over what was once the pragmatic confidence of students from New Europe.

The old sores and divisions fester. Russia remains unreconciled to the new map of Europe.

The vote shocked old Europe and the Arab world as much as the Bush administration.

As a result, reunified Germany naturally fell back on its old sphere of dominance, Eastern Europe.

The reality is that there is no such thing as old and new Europe, and there never was.

The Bush administration distinguished itself by driving a wedge between old Europe and new Europe. It is to be hoped that the Obama administration will adopt the opposite course.

PARIS In the Western part of Europe the part that former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld maliciously labeled Old Europe almost every government is in deep political trouble.

In short, it is good for Americans and for the world that old and new Europe are becoming one.

The bitter new reality is that the US and old Europe have recently edged closer to becoming developing countries.

Students from Old Europe were energized by the idealism and confidence emanating from their Polish, Czech, Estonian, and other compatriots.

Old Israelis who had clearly come from Eastern Europe before World War II were playing with very young Palestinian children.

The second analogy, to the old balance of power system in Europe, is especially popular among Israeli and American diplomats.

In short, it is good for Americans and for the world that old and new Europe are becoming one. We can all benefit from the soft power of an enlarged Europe.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld even tried to use divide and rule tactics by pitting New Europe against the Old Europe led by France and Germany, which opposed the Iraq war.

But the old privileged elite is not the only group in Turkey that stands to gain from being part of Europe.

The weakness of the US and Europe today is an open invitation for Russia to return to its old imperial politics.

Most hospitals in the USA and Europe argue that the scrub uniform is easier to clean than the old nurse uniforms.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's division of Europe into new and old was, above all, a clever ploy that helped the Bush Administration get its way by using the old strategy of divide and rule.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's petulant remark of last year about old and new Europe was right for the wrong reasons.

Old Europe has entered into a severe and intractable crisis of the welfare state as ordinary Europeans have come to know it.

New Europe (at least its governments), understanding the need to exercise power, was from Mars, whereas Old Europe (with the main exception of Great Britain), having decayed into a culture of weakness, was from Venus.

Italy may have defeated France to win the World Cup, but the real winner was the Old Europe that Donald Rumsfeld once derided.

A notable example is the hoopoe that nests in tree hollows of old fruit trees and, in the absence of alternative nesting sites, is threatened in many parts of Europe, because of the destruction of old orchards.

The transformation of the old European welfare state started in northern Europe, and it is proceeding to most of the rest of the continent.

In most of Europe an old style gate is used for a crossing with gates, and a steam locomotive for a crossing without gates.

It should also be recalled, however, that when Slovenia entered the eurozone in 2007, many people suggested that the country was somehow joining Old Europe.

But Europeans ought not to be too arrogant, because, in recent years, that common European culture has itself proven to be fragile, particularly in light of the Bush administration s divide and rule strategy pitting Old Europe against New Europe.

This trend accelerated as the current Bush administration attempted to construct unilateral global hegemony out of the War on Terror, which provoked growing disquiet in Old Europe.

That outcome is likely to confirm Russia s emergence as the most divisive issue in the European Union since Donald Rumsfeld split the continent into old and new Europe.

The differences between the demonstrations in Madrid and Warsaw suggest that the distinction between Old and New Europe remains valid, though not in the way that Rumsfeld meant.

Mao also ordered the country to destroy the Four Olds old ideas, old culture, old customs, and old habits.

I suppose that Donald Rumsfeld s misguided bid a few years ago to incite a divide between new and old Europe contributed to the re emergence of that disdainful attitude.

More globally, however, it is as if Old Europe had decided that it was time to set the record straight and prove more dynamic than the world s emerging forces.

According to a recent report by the UN Development Program, roughly half of those between 15 and 30 years old dream of emigrating to Europe, North America, or Australia.

After two world wars, displays of national fervor became more or less taboo in Europe. Nationalism was blamed for almost destroying the old continent twice in the 20th century.

The fiasco of the European Union s summit in Brussels has brought into sharp relief differences in attitudes between most new member countries from East Central Europe and the old members.