USA et Europe sur le terrorisme : une divergence grandissante d’appréciation bien dans l’air du temps

On fait souvent le constat que les perceptions du phénomène du terrorisme des Européens et des Américains divergent. Ce n’est pas un débat académique. Il implique des conséquences politiques et opérationnelles importantes.

Le constat est renouvelé par Robert Marquand, dans le Christian Science Monitor, du 5 février, assorti de l’affirmation de l’accélération dramatique de cette divergence.

«The solidarity underscores a shifting tone in Europe. As changes of leadership loom in Britain and France, and capitals contemplate relations with a post-Bush US, Uncle Sam may expect stronger “pushbacks” from Europe, experts here say. Public disapproval of the US-led “war on terror” is also growing, spurring the change.

» “There is a deep gap between government policy and public opinion in Europe, and that opinion may be shaping the direction here right now,” says Frederic Bozo, professor of European Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris. “Europe doesn't want to upset the careful balance with the US. I don't think there is a united opposition against the US at all. But Europe is setting the groundwork for its own identity.”

»Gordon Brown, who is shortly expected to take over as prime minister in Great Britain, opposed the Iraq war from the start, and has made no secret that he plans to carve out an independent line on the venerable “special relationship” with the US. Many anticipate that British troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year.

»In France, even the avidly pro-American Nicolas Sarkozy, current front-runner in the French elections this spring, stated in an interview taped in New York last week that Americans need to “get interested in the world, and the world will learn to love you.”

»To be sure, European cooperation with the US on a wide range of areas, including counterterrorism, is extremely strong, even in France, where the Chirac government has steadily gone it alone in Europe in opposition to the Iraq campaign.Yet Europeans have steadily refused to accept the concept and phrase, “war on terror,” a sentiment that extends to its application to Iraq.

»Last week, European Union officials in Brussels sought to reduce the amount of information given to US agencies on air passengers leaving Europe. An official in charge of data protection for the European Central Bank similarly advised that millions of pieces of financial information being sent regularly to the US after Sept. 11 were in violation of EU privacy codes.

»The “secret, routine, and massive access” by US agencies to banking SWIFT codes – needed to transfer in and out of European financial institutions – is “unacceptable,” stated Peter Hustinx, the Brussels official responsible for EU data oversight.

»Boosting this sentiment is Europeans' recognition that the US is also in flux with an election season starting up, and that President Bush's term appears to be winding down with the United States in a vulnerable position overseas.»

Ce texte de Marquand est exemplaire d’un état d’esprit américaniste en plein développement. L’appréciation est très pessimiste, sans doute exagérément, et elle va bien au-delà de la seule question du terrorisme. Ce que Marquand écrit notamment sur Gordon Brown (en tant que successeur de Blair) et même sur Sarkozy «avidly pro-American» (en tant que possible successeur de Chirac) est particulièrement révélateur de cette vision pessimiste du point de vue US.

Ce pessimisme est moins influencé par la question du terrorisme, — même si les divergences décrites sont bien réelles — que par les développements intérieurs à Washington, qui ne cessent d’affaiblir la perception des Américains de leur propre puissance et de leur propre influence. Réciproquement, le durcissement européen que décrit Marquand est évidemment pour une bonne part l’effet de la perception de l’affaiblissement de la puissance US par les Européens.

Mis en ligne le 6 février 2007 à 04H23