Fri, Sep 05, 2003 page6

• Europe and US grow further apart: poll

  GREAT DIVIDE A survey shows that Americans and Europeans increasingly disagree on important political issues, especially on the use of force in the pursuit of justice

  • NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE
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  Europeans are increasingly uncomfortable with the US' global leadership, with majorities in almost every nation opposing the direction of American foreign policy, a new poll has found.

  The survey, conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the US and Compagnia di San Paolo of Turin, Italy, collected views on both sides of the Atlantic about international threats, global leadership and the use of force to resolve conflicts.

  The survey offers a snapshot of changing attitudes since the administration of US President George W. Bush, frustrated by some European resistance to war, led a coalition to battle in Iraq without the authorization of the UN Security Council. Bush said on Tuesday that he would seek the UN's help to strengthen military forces in Iraq.

  The difference between American and European attitudes is widening, the poll found, as longtime allies of the US increasingly chafe under American leadership.

  "The trans-Atlantic split over war in Iraq has undermined America's standing with Europeans," the survey's authors said.

  In Italy and Germany, for example, disapproval of current American foreign policy has surged by 20 percentage points from last year, according to the poll, which sampled the views of 8,000 Americans and Europeans in June.

  The survey was conducted in the US and seven other countries -- Germany, France, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal -- and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

  While a firm majority of European respondents -- 64 percent -- last year favored a strong American presence in the world, that number dropped to 45 percent this year. In France, seven of 10 respondents said American global leadership is "undesirable," and half the Italians and Germans agree.

  Americans are more likely than Europeans to embrace the use of force to rid nations of dangerous weapons, and are more willing to circumvent the UN if their vital interests are at stake, the poll found.

  For example, on North Korea, 63 percent of Americans support using force to keep that nation from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. By contrast, only 37 percent of Europeans supported such an attack. North Korea upset nuclear disarmament talks last month by stating its intention to test a nuclear bomb.

  Nearly three out of four Americans -- 73 percent -- would endorse the use of force to clear Iran of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. Europeans were slightly more bellicose than last year, but still fewer than half -- 44 percent -- said they would support military action to disarm Iran.

  Asked whether war could be viewed as being just, Americans overwhelmingly assented -- 84 percent.

  But Europeans were more skeptical; only 48 percent of them responded that war may be used to achieve justice.
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