A correspondence from the World Economic Forum in Davos, in the German newswire Deutsche Welle. US asks for help in Iraq, Europeans speak out their fears about the euro/dollar exchange rate and the US deficit.
The World Economic Forum wrapped up Sunday after five days of talks focusing on cooperation and conciliation. Washington appealed to Europe to lend a hand in bringing democracy to the greater Middle East.
Compared to last year’s talkfest in the Swiss mountain retreat, the 2004 World Economic Forum in Davos took place in a positive atmosphere. Rather than exchanging war rhetoric, political leaders focused on negotiation and cooperation. Led by Vice President Dick Cheney, the U.S. delegation worked hard to set a conciliatory tone.
"Cooperation among our governments and effective international institutions are even more important today then they have been in the past," said Cheney, considered one of Washington’s biggest hawks and proponents of the Bush administration's go-it-alone stance.
U.S. turns to EU
In a high profile speech on Saturday, the vice president appealed to Europe, especially France and Germany who had faced off against the U.S. in last year’s war, urging EU member states to take an active role in rebuilding Iraq, helping to defuse Iran’s nuclear ambitions and promoting international security.
Referring to Europe’s experience in overcoming age-old antagonisms, fascism and communism, Cheney called on the EU to help bring freedom to the greater Middle East from Iran to Mauritania. "
Our forward strategy for freedom commits us to support those who work and sacrifice for reform across the greater Middle East. We call upon our democratic friends and allies everywhere, and in Europe in particular, to join us in this effort," he said.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, while welcoming the invitation to dialogue with Washington on the greater Middle East, cautioned about getting carried away with illusionary grand structures. "To think that from Morocco to Afghanistan we’re going to have something structured is a bit of a chimera," he told Reuters news service.
Solana also pointed out that the EU already had agreements and cooperation with a dozen Mediterranean partners offering trade and aid in return for economic reform and human rights. In a veiled criticism of Washington’s foreign policy goals, Solana said it would be hard to get the Arab world behind a collective democratization initiative "without putting the same energy into the solution of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process."
Europe focuses on economy
Most European leaders, however, were more preoccupied with the U.S. dollar’s plunge against the euro, which is jeopardizing economic recovery in the euro zone by making European exports more expensive in international markets. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Europe was "concerned about excessive exchange rate moves," and he called for more "stability" in the foreign exchange market.
Germany's deputy finance minister, Caio Koch-Weser, told AFP news service that there was "complete consensus" among the 12 finance ministers of the euro zone for stability in currency markets.
"If I am concerned about something it is that the euro alone has to bear the brunt of the fall of the dollar because many areas of the world are de facto linked to the dollar, be it through pegs or intervention," he said.
The ECB’s Trichet also expressed worry over a ballooning U.S. budget deficit, which if unchecked could become a source of international contention when it effects interest and exchange rates across the globe.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans attempted to calm European fears by saying the situation was both "very manageable" and "affordable." He said the deficit would be brought down by some "very, very tough decisions on spending." Neither Cheney nor Evans seemed especially concerned about the weak dollar.
DW staff (ktz)