Nile Gardiner
Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. He appears frequently on American and British television and radio, including Fox News Channel, CNN, BBC, Sky News, and NPR.
The silliest speech of the Obama administration? Joe Biden surrenders US leadership to Brussels
By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: May 24th, 2010
I’ve written extensively on how the Obama administration is fervently in favour of a federal Europe, but now it seems it is happy to surrender American global leadership to the EU as well. In his recent speech to the European Parliament (hat tip: The Foundry), Vice President Joe Biden declared that Brussels can now lay claim to the title “capital of the free world” (watch the video here):
As you already know, ladies and gentlemen, not only am I pleased to be back here in Brussels for the second time as Vice President — as you probably know, some American politicians and American journalists refer to Washington, DC as the “capital of the free world.” But it seems to me that this great city, which boasts 1,000 years of history and which serves as the capital of Belgium, the home of the European Union, and the headquarters for NATO, this city has its own legitimate claim to that title.
And that’s not all. Biden went on to sing the praises of the distinctly undemocratic Lisbon Treaty, and ludicrously described the European Parliament as “the bastion of European democracy”, an insult to the great centres of national government in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and the rest of Europe.
As a lawmaker for more than 36 years in our Parliament, I feel particularly honored to address the European Parliament. President Obama and I were the first running mates in the last 50 years in America to make it to the White House from our legislative bodies. So we both come to our executive jobs with a deep appreciation for the work you do here in the bastion of European democracy.
Together with my former colleagues in the United States Congress, you and I represent more than 800 million people. Stop and think about that for a moment: two elected bodies that shape the laws for almost one-eighth of the planet’s population. That’s truly remarkable.
And now under the Lisbon Treaty, you’ve taken on more powers and a broader responsibility that comes with that increased influence. And we welcome it. We welcome that, because we, the United States, need strong allies and alliances to help us tackle the problems of the 21st century, many of which are the same but so many are different than the last century.
Let me state it as plainly as I can: The Obama-Biden administration has no doubt about the need for and strongly supports a vibrant European Union. We believe it’s absolutely essential to American prosperity and long-term security. So have no doubt about that.
This has to rank not only as one of the silliest speeches ever given by a US official on foreign soil, it is also an affront to the principle of national sovereignty in Europe, as well as a stunning abdication of American leadership. It would be a dark day indeed if the United States were to actually surrender its global leadership to the EU. A world without the United States at the helm would be unthinkable.
After all, it is not the unelected leaders of the European Union or the pacifistic apparatchiks at their desks in Brussels who are protecting the free world from terrorism and rogue regimes, but the men and women of the US military and their allies from great nations such as Britain. US leadership is just as vital today as it was 65 years ago, when American and British forces liberated Europe from tyranny. Biden should remember that before elevating Brussels to the position of a superpower.
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