U.S. "snub" to the Poles--continued

An interesting perspective on this supposed disrespect the Obama administration showed its faithful ally Poland last week, when it sent a low-level delegation to the commemorations of the start of World War II. NRC-Handelsblad commentator Juurd Eijsvoogel today (in Dutch) suggests that there was actually a plan behind Washington's approach, that this was part of a strategy to encourage the Poles (and other East and Central European allies) to find a way to live with big, bad neighbor Russia, instead of primarily relying on the U.S., an ally living far away. It's not that Washington is preparing to sever its ties with the (East) Europeans, but more that the Americans are taking "the next logical step" twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Presumably he means by this that the U.S. is "normalizing" what during the Cold War had become an abnormally close American relationship with the old continent. That's reminiscent of what Eisenhower and Dulles were hoping to achieve during their first term in office (1953-1957) by way of the ill-fated European Defense Community. Eisenhower and Dulles hoped that the U.S. military involvement (certainly the large U.S. military presence) in Europe could be temporary, that the Europeans could gradually take responsibility again for their own defense (backed, to be sure, by the NATO alliance with the U.S.). That proved to be an illusion. We'll see if Obama and friends will be more successful today. In trying to take this "next logical step," according to Eijsvoogel, they're doing the Poles a service. It's not, he seems to imply, as if the U.S. will maintain its current commitment to Europe's security until the end of days. It opens up an intriguing long-term perspective: America's natural involvement with Europe is really quite distant. The Cold War was an aberration; now that it's over, gradually the U.S. will revert back to a more distant posture. Also given Washington's other headaches in the world today, that's not such a weird proposition. IJsvoogel's conclusions are a bit optimistic: first he says that friend Putin obliged, last week in Gdansk, through his "reassuring" appearance (we'll see about that); second, there's more than a little wishful thinking in the following: "And with all this, an important step forward has been made on the road to a Europe that's really united, free, and secure. With thanks this time to an America that's quiet." Still, it's a column that does what a good column is supposed to do: making you think by way of an original idea.