General Question
How do you feel about the term 'old' Europe (introduced by Donald Rumsfeld in 2003)?
Does the term mean anything to you? Is the term dead?
From Wikipedia: Old Europe is a term that was popularized in January 2003 after then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used it to refer to European countries that did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq, specifically France and Germany. Since then, the term has been used by pundits and media personalities to describe various combinations of the first-world countries of Europe; comedian Jon Stewart, for example, has applied the term humorously to all Western European Great Powers, most notably Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
On January 22, 2003 Rumsfeld answered a question from Charles Groenhuijsen, a Dutch journalist, about the potential US invasion:
Q: Sir, a question about the mood among European allies. You were talking about the Islamic world a second ago. But now the European allies. If you look at, for example, France, Germany, also a lot of people in my own country—I’m from Dutch public TV, by the way—it seems that a lot of Europeans rather give the benefit of the doubt to Saddam Hussein than President George Bush. These are U.S. allies. What do you make of that?
Rumsfeld: Well, it’s—what do I make of it? (...) Now, you’re thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don’t. I think that’s old Europe. If you look at the entire NATO Europe today, the center of gravity is shifting to the east. And there are a lot of new members. And if you just take the list of all the members of NATO and all of those who have been invited in recently—what is it? Twenty-six, something like that?—you’re right. Germany has been a problem, and France has been a problem.
The German translation altes Europa was the word of the year for 2003 in Germany, because German politicians and commentators responded by often using it in a sarcastic way. It was frequently used with pride and a reference to a perceived position of greater moral integrity. The terms altes Europa and Old Europe have subsequently surfaced in European economic and political discourse. For example, in a January 2005 unveiling for the new Airbus A380 aircraft, German chancellor Gerhard Schröder said, “There is the tradition of good old Europe that has made this possible.” A BBC News article about the unveiling said Schröder “deliberately redefined the phrase previously used by… Rumsfeld.”
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