Why Can't We Be Friends?

Fabio, a blogger from Europe that I read from time to time, decries European ignorance of how the United States works. Fairhandedly, many Americans are similarly ignorant of how things work in the Old World. What’s interesting is that Europeans seem to be acquiring the unfortunate tendency of some Americans to not care how things work elsewhere. Not caring is worse than not knowing – indifference breeds contempt.

Unlike the author of the underlying article Fabio cites, I do not accept as a matter of inevitability that Europeans as a rule hate the United States and its citizens, or at least that the growing contempt is a trend that cannot or should not be changed. Neither we nor our counterparts in the EU can afford to allow our relationship to descend into one of mutual contempt. Too much commerce, too many geopolitical security arrangements, and too many social ties are at stake. We’re stronger and better when we’re friends.