VEŘEJNÁ SPRÁVA | TÝDENÍK VLÁDY ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY |
číslo 20 |
Brush Up Your English |
Bob Kagan's seminal essay, Power and Weakness, has in many ways become the central point of departure for the trans-Atlantic debates on this divergence in worldviews. Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, has sent it round to members of Europe's strategic community describing it as "essential reading". It clearly has many strengths - being both thoughtful and thought provoking. But as with comparable neo-conservative analyses, it also has curious omissions and blind spots, which make the conclusions less compelling. First the praise: Kagan and company are absolutely right in saying that we should stop pretending that Europe and America share a similar world outlook. The soothing mantras of "common interests" and "shared values" that leaders trot out at summits are no longer convincing. The hard truth is that Europeans and Americans disagree on what matters as an international problem (the "madmen and loose nukes" agenda vs. the "dark side of globalization"). Equally, Washington and Brussels differ over what strategy works best (unilateral application of military power vs. multilateral blending of diplomatic and economic initiatives).
divergence - odchylka "essential reading" - "povinná četba" strength - síla, silná stránka thoughtful - přemýšlivý omission - opominutí blind spot - slepé místo compelling - podmanivý praise - chvála to pretend - předstírat to share - sdílet soothing - uklidňující to trot out - předvádět, chlubit se equally - stejně to differ - lišit se to work best - nejlépe fungovat blending - směs
To explain these differences, neo-conservatives such as Kagan point to the huge discrepancy in military power. America retains a Hobbesian worldview because it alone is responsible for upholding global order and has equipped itself with the tools to do so. It is strong and feels comfortable wielding military power - simply because it can. If by contrast you are weak, such as the Europeans, you choose not to confront but to negotiate. No one should belittle the huge differences in military capabilities, or the knock-on effects this has on how Europe and America look at the world. Of course European countries should beef up their inadequate military capabilities. But Europeans may reply that America's overmilitarization has its own problems. It gets close to the saying: if the only instrument you have is a hammer, all your problems start looking like a nail.
huge - obrovský discrepancy - nesoulad to uphold - udržovat order - řád, pořádek tool - nástroj to wield - ovládat, řídit weak - slabý to negotiate - vyjednávat to belittle - podceňovat to beef up - slang. posilnit capability - schopnost saying - pořekadlo instrument - nástroj hammer - kladivo nail - hřebík
Připravuje Markéta Frýbová