Old Europe andNew Europe are terms used to contrast parts ofEurope with each other in arhetorical way. In the 21st century, the terms have been used byconservative political analysts in theUnited States to describepost-Communist era countries inCentral andEastern Europe as 'newer' and parts ofWestern Europe as 'older', suggesting that the latter were less important.[1] The termOld Europe attracted attention when it was used by then-U.S. Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld in January 2003 to refer to democratic European countries before thefall of Communism in Europe, after which a significant number of new members have eventually joinedNATO, theEuropean Union and other European bodies.
Old Europe can mean – in a wider sense – Europe of an older historical period, as opposed to a newer historical period. Before Rumsfeld’s use, the term had been used in various historical contexts to refer to Europe as the "Old World" as opposed to America as the "New World"; or, inMarxist usage, to Europe in the expectation ofCommunist revolutions.
On January 22, 2003, Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld answered a question from Dutch journalist Charles Groenhuijsen about a potentialU.S. invasion of Iraq:[2][3]
Q: Sir, a question about the mood among European allies. You were talking about theIslamic 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 fromDutch public TV, by the way -- it seems that a lot of Europeans rather give the benefit of the doubt toSaddam Hussein than PresidentGeorge Bush. These are U.S. allies. What do you make of that?
Rumsfeld: Well, it's -- what do I make of it?
Q: They have no clerics. They have no Muslim clerics there.
Rumsfeld: Are you helping me? (Laughter.) Do you think I need help? (Laughter.)
What do I think about it? Well, there isn't anyone alive who wouldn't prefer unanimity. I mean, you just always would like everyone to stand up and say, Way to go! That's the right thing to do, United States.
Now, we rarely find unanimity in the world. I wasambassador toNATO, and I -- when we would go in and make a proposal, there wouldn't be unanimity. There wouldn't even be understanding. And we'd have to be persuasive. We'd have to show reasons. We'd have to -- have to give rationales. We'd have to show facts. And, by golly, I found that Europe on any major issue is given -- if there's leadership and if you're right, and if your facts are persuasive, Europe responds. And they always have.
Now, you're thinking of Europe asGermany andFrance. I don't. I think that'sold 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.
Q: But opinion polls --
Rumsfeld: But -- just a minute. Just a minute. But you look at vast numbers of other countries in Europe. They're not with France and Germany on this, they're with the United States.
The expression was interpreted as a dig against a "sclerotic" and old-fashioned Western Europe. Those countries, Rumsfeld added on the same occasion, were "of no importance."[4] It became a potent symbol, especially after division emerged over Iraq between France and Germany and some of the new Central andSoutheastern European entrants and applicants to NATO and the European Union.[5]
Rumsfeld would later claim his comment was "unintentional," and that he had meant to say "old NATO" instead of "old Europe;" during his time as ambassador to NATO, there were only fifteen alliance members, and France and Germany had played a much larger role than after the admission of many new (particularly Eastern European) countries. Nonetheless, he claims he "was amused by the ruckus" when the term became debated.[6]
Further diplomatic tension built up when Rumsfeld pointed out in February 2003, that Germany,Cuba andLibya were the only nations completely opposing a possible war in Iraq (a statement that was formally correct at the time). This was interpreted by many that he would put Germany on a common level withdictatorships violatinghuman rights.[7]
French foreign ministerDominique de Villepin referred to Rumsfeld's remark by describing France as "an old country", which had known "wars, occupation and barbarity", during United Nations Security Council debates about military action against Iraq.[8]
The German translationaltes Europa was theword of the year for 2003 in Germany, because German politicians and commentators responded by often using it in asarcastic way.[9] It was frequently used withpride and a reference to a perceived position of greater moral integrity. The termsaltes Europa andOld Europe have subsequently surfaced in European economic and political discourse. For example, in a January 2005 unveiling for the newAirbus A380 aircraft, GermanchancellorGerhard Schröder said, "There is the tradition of good old Europe that has made this possible." ABBC News article about the unveiling said Schröder "deliberately redefined the phrase previously used by... Rumsfeld."[10]
Outside of Rumsfeld's usage of "Old Europe", the term New Europe (andneues Europa) also appeared, indicating either the European states that supported the war, the Central European states that had been newly accepted to theEU, or a new economically and technologically dynamic and liberal Europe, often including theUnited Kingdom.
Rumsfeld made fun of his statement shortly before a 2005 diplomatic trip to Europe. "When I first mentioned I might be travelling in France and Germany it raised some eyebrows. One wag said it ought to be an interesting trip after all that has been said. I thought for a moment and then I replied: 'Oh, that was the old Rumsfeld.'"[11]
The phrase continued to be used after Rumsfeld's tenure. In a March 2009 speech to theUnited States Congress, British Prime MinisterGordon Brown said "There is no old Europe, no new Europe. There is only your friend Europe," whichThe Boston Globe called "an oblique shot at" Rumsfeld.[12] The next month, speaking inPrague, U.S. PresidentBarack Obama, echoing Brown's words, said, "in my view, there is no old Europe or new Europe. There is only a united Europe."[13]
TheCommunist Manifesto byKarl Marx andFriedrich Engels starts with the words:
A spectre is haunting Europe — the spectre of communism. All the powers ofold Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre:Pope andTsar,Metternich andGuizot, French Radicals and German police-spies.
When Marx used the term in 1848, theyear of failed liberal revolutions across Europe, he was referring to therestoration ofAncien régime dynasties, following the defeat ofNapoleon. Of his three sets of pairs, each pair links figures who might on the surface be considered adversaries, in alliances that he clearly sees asunholy. An "Old Europe" must find a mental contrast with a posited "New Europe".[14]
In his ultra-nationalistic, anti-European book of 1904,America Rules the World, E. David used 'Old Europe' in the following context:
The true American citizen is by nature brave, honest, amiable, hospitable, patriotic, energetic and intelligent; he is practical and yet idealistic and enthusiastic. Cultivation and refinement make him a gentleman equal, if not superior, to the gentry of the best educated classes ofOld Europe for manners and behavior. An educated American is the best and most generous of friends.[15]
In his bookLa Hora de los Pueblos (1968), Argentine politicianJuan Perón used the phrase when he enunciated the main principles of his purported newtricontinental political vision:
Mao is at the head of Asia,Nasser of Africa,De Gaulle of the old Europe andCastro of Latin America.[16]