No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

The effect of the defeat of Spanish Prime minister Aznar on Bush

Tara McKelvey, a senior editor at the American Prospect Online interviewed Ivo Daalder, a well-respected foreign policy expert. This is an excerpt from the reported interview.
The American Prospect Online

Does being closely associated with the Bush administration mean you can lose an election?

This is the third election of a major ally in which the party running against George Bush won. Look at Germany in '02, South Korea in '03, and now Spain. The message is: If you want to get re-elected, don't go to Crawford. Bush is a political liability -- in Europe, in particular. His foreign policy has trampled on the European views and it's now resulting in the election of governments that do not support his approach.

You say foreign leaders shouldn't go to Crawford. What's your advice for Bush?

My advice to Bush is, "Start paying attention to your allies." Coalitions of the willing may have short-term benefits in terms of effectiveness in Iraq (for example), but they have long-term problems in terms of legitimacy. Being right is not the only thing that matters. And getting other countries to commit to you has benefits.

What effect will the Spanish elections have on Bush?

Bush had a very, very close relationship with Aznar -- as underscored by the fact that when he made his first presidential trip to Europe, his first stop was Madrid. He used to point to Aznar as a way to justify what he was doing in terms of foreign policy. He'd say, more or less, "Here's a man who supports me, even though 90 percent of his population is against what we're doing in Iraq. What a strong, principled leader." But the fact that 90 percent of the people did not support Aznar led to his downfall. So the defeat of one of the staunchest members of the "coalition of the willing" is a major defeat for George Bush. The Spanish election was a referendum not only on Aznar but on Bush as well. They both lost.


In short, Daalder sees the defeat of Aznar as a defeat for Bush, and also that the defeat exposes the weakness of Bush's position in Iraq and in Europe generally.

posted by Richard at 11:40 PM