Old Europe and New Europe
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Old Europe and New Europe are terms used to contrast parts of Europe with each other in a rhetorical way. In the 21st century, the terms have been used by conservative political analysts in the United States to describe post-Communist era countries in Central and Eastern Europe as 'newer' and parts of Western Europe as 'older', suggesting that the latter were less important.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The term Old Europe attracted attention when it was used by then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in January 2003 to refer to democratic European countries before the fall of Communism in Europe, after which a significant number of new members have eventually joined NATO, the European Union and other European bodies.
Old Europe can mean – in a wider sense – Europe of an older historical period, as opposed to a newer historical period. Before Rumsfeld’s use, the term had been used in various historical contexts to refer to Europe as the "Old World" as opposed to America as the "New World"; or, in Marxist usage, to Europe in the expectation of Communist revolutions.
Rumsfeld's termEdit
On January 22, 2003, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld answered a question from Dutch journalist Charles Groenhuijsen about a potential U.S. invasion of Iraq:<ref>Secretary Rumsfeld Briefs at the Foreign Press Center. U.S. Department of Defense. January 22, 2003. [1]</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The expression was interpreted as a dig against a "sclerotic" and old-fashioned Western Europe. Those countries, Rumsfeld added on the same occasion, were "of no importance."<ref>Peter H. Merkl, The Distracted Eagle: The Rift between America and Old Europe, (London & New York: Routeledge, 2005), p 54.</ref> It became a potent symbol, especially after division emerged over Iraq between France and Germany and some of the new Central and Southeastern European entrants and applicants to NATO and the European Union.<ref>Outrage at 'old Europe' remarks. BBC News. January 23, 2003.</ref>
Rumsfeld would later claim his comment was "unintentional," and that he had meant to say "old NATO" instead of "old Europe;" during his time as ambassador to NATO, there were only fifteen alliance members, and France and Germany had played a much larger role than after the admission of many new (particularly Eastern European) countries. Nonetheless, he claims he "was amused by the ruckus" when the term became debated.<ref>Rumsfeld, Donald. Known and Unknown: A Memoir, Penguin Group, New York, 2011, pp. 444-45. Template:ISBN</ref>
Further diplomatic tension built up when Rumsfeld pointed out in February 2003, that Germany, Cuba and Libya were the only nations completely opposing a possible war in Iraq (a statement that was formally correct at the time). This was interpreted by many that he would put Germany on a common level with dictatorships violating human rights.<ref>Cornwell, Rupert (February 8, 2003). Rumsfeld 'mends fences' by lumping Germany with Cuba and Libya in an axis of bad boysTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore. The Independent.</ref>
Later developmentsEdit
The German translation altes Europa was the word of the year for 2003 in Germany, because German politicians and commentators responded by often using it in a sarcastic way.<ref>The German Word of the Year. About.com.</ref> It was frequently used with pride and a reference to a perceived position of greater moral integrity. The terms altes Europa and Old Europe have subsequently surfaced in European economic and political discourse. For example, in a January 2005 unveiling for the new Airbus A380 aircraft, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder said, "There is the tradition of good old Europe that has made this possible." A BBC News article about the unveiling said Schröder "deliberately redefined the phrase previously used by... Rumsfeld."<ref>Madslien, Jorn (January 18, 2005). Giant plane a testimony to 'old Europe'. BBC News.</ref>
Outside of Rumsfeld's usage of "Old Europe", the term New Europe (and neues Europa) also appeared, indicating either the European states that supported the war, the Central European states that had been newly accepted to the EU, or a new economically and technologically dynamic and liberal Europe, often including the United Kingdom.
Rumsfeld made fun of his statement shortly before a 2005 diplomatic trip to Europe. "When I first mentioned I might be travelling in France and Germany it raised some eyebrows. One wag said it ought to be an interesting trip after all that has been said. I thought for a moment and then I replied: 'Oh, that was the old Rumsfeld.'"<ref>Rumsfeld urges terror fight unity. BBC News. February 12, 2005.</ref>
The phrase continued to be used after Rumsfeld's tenure. In a March 2009 speech to the United States Congress, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said "There is no old Europe, no new Europe. There is only your friend Europe," which The Boston Globe called "an oblique shot at" Rumsfeld.<ref>UK's Brown seeks US help to aid world economy, Susan Milligan, The Boston Globe, March 5, 2009</ref> The next month, speaking in Prague, U.S. President Barack Obama, echoing Brown's words, said, "in my view, there is no old Europe or new Europe. There is only a united Europe."<ref>'Erdogan Has Gambled Away Political Capital', Charles Hawley, Der Spiegel, April 7, 2009</ref>
Earlier usesEdit
The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels starts with the words:
When Marx used the term in 1848, the year of failed liberal revolutions across Europe, he was referring to the restoration of Ancien régime dynasties, following the defeat of Napoleon. Of his three sets of pairs, each pair links figures who might on the surface be considered adversaries, in alliances that he clearly sees as unholy. An "Old Europe" must find a mental contrast with a posited "New Europe".<ref>Roter, Peter; Šabič, Zlatko "'New' and 'old Europe' in the context of the Iraq war and its implications for European security." Perspectives on European Politics and Society. 5(3), 517 — 542.</ref>
In his ultra-nationalistic, anti-European book of 1904, America Rules the World, E. David used 'Old Europe' in the following context:
In his book La Hora de los Pueblos (1968), Argentine politician Juan Perón used the phrase when he enunciated the main principles of his purported new tricontinental political vision:
See alsoEdit
- Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union
- Euroscepticism
- Old World
- Letter of the eight
- Pan-European identity
- Transatlantic relations