ACCESSION NUMBER:227350
FILE ID:EU-210
DATE:05/12/92
TITLE:U.S. INTEREST IN EUROPE REMAINS UNCHANGED (05/12/92)
TEXT:*92051210.EUR
*EUR210   05/12/92 *

U.S. INTEREST IN EUROPE REMAINS UNCHANGED
(After the Cold War)  (480)
Cheri J. Mullin
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- In the aftermath of the Cold War, U.S. interest in Europe
remains unchanged, according to a recently released report by the Johns
Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute School of Advanced International Studies.

As was the case following World War II, the United States continues to
support the goal of a free, safe, prosperous and open Europe, the report
concludes.  The United States and Europe are united in a "transatlantic
community that transcends differences and permits both to envision new
levels of economic, political and security cooperation in the future," the
study notes.

The report features 20 "talking points" that comment on such areas as the
Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
negotiations, the development of a European Single Market, entry of Eastern
European countries into the European Community (EC) and the continuation of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as it relates to EC and U.S.
security interests.

Regarding U.S.-EC relations, the report states that apprehensions in the
United States that the EC might develop into an entity that is hostile to
U.S. interests and manipulated for the benefit of one or a few countries
should be put to rest, as should any suspicion in Europe that the United
States is hostile to the growth of the EC.

The report also warns that if the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations fail,
the global trading system will be placed in serious danger.  It adds that
the political decisions needed to reach an agreement should not be delayed
any longer.
1
According to the report, the United States could significantly improve the
tone and substance of its relations with the EC by putting its own economic
house in order.

Concerning NATO, the report says that the alliance remains the best
assurance of European and U.S. security interests in Europe against
possible future military threats.  The U.S. military presence in NATO
reassures all Europeans against domination of the Continent by any single
power.  Also, any residual nuclear threat against Western Europe is best
deterred by the U.S. presence in Europe in the form of a modest
air-delivered nuclear capability, the report suggests.

Cautioning against reliance on only a token U.S. military presence in
Europe, the report proposes a force of 50,000 to 100,000 troops, capable of
conducting light combat operations.  It should also have the capacity to
receive heavy reinforcements if needed, the report says.

Even though the role of such forces addresses what may now seem to be remote
contingencies, retention of such a presence would be less politically
difficult now -- both from the European and U.S. perspective -- than their
reintroduction later, the report concludes.

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