D’accord, Obama n’a gu\u00e8re parl\u00e9 substance durant son voyage en Europe, mais on en sait assez sur lui, on a saisi assez de d\u00e9tails ici et l\u00e0, pour se faire une id\u00e9e. Et ce n’est pas pr\u00e9cis\u00e9ment encourageant, oh non, pas du tout. Ainsi en conclut Steven Erlanger, dans l’International Herald Tribune<\/em>, ce 25 juillet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00abBut for all the rock-star excitement abroad – reminiscent of the European embrace of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton – Obama was vague on crucial issues of trade, defense and foreign policy that currently divide Washington from Europe and are likely to continue to do so even if Obama becomes president. The issues include Russia, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan, as well as new refueling tankers and chlorinated chickens, the focus of an 11-year European ban on U.S. poultry imports.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t()<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbEuropeans are wary about Obama’s call for more European money for defense and more soldiers for the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. They worry that he would not alter what they see as Bush’s unbending bias in favor of Israel.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbAnd, despite what appears to be his sensitivity to European concerns, they perceive Obama as largely uninterested in Europe, even though he is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee responsible for the region. As the newspaper Le Monde pointed out Thursday, Obama has never asked to meet the European Union’s ambassador in Washington.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00bbBut European leaders are particularly concerned about Obama’s positions on trade, taken during the bruising Democratic primary campaign against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, which seem to many to veer toward protectionism.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tD’une fa\u00e7on assez curieuse, la venue d’Obama, alors que rien de fondamental ne s’est dit, a \u00e9t\u00e9 l’occasion pour les dirigeants europ\u00e9ens d’affirmer indirectement leurs tr\u00e8s grandes pr\u00e9occupations devant certaines orientations US, qui ne sont pas n\u00e9cessairement sp\u00e9cifiques \u00e0 Obama, mais qu’Obama repr\u00e9sente finalement assez bien. Nous dirions que le show<\/em> qu’a \u00e9t\u00e9 cet European Tour<\/em> ultra-rapide et sans substance, mais avec beaucoup d’effets, a plut\u00f4t lib\u00e9r\u00e9 des appr\u00e9ciations critiques.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tL’essentiel des critiques europ\u00e9ennes sp\u00e9cifiques contre l’\u00e9volution US porte sur le soup\u00e7on g\u00e9n\u00e9ral de repli sur soi, notamment exprim\u00e9 par le soup\u00e7on de protectionnisme. Dans ce soup\u00e7on, la place tenu par l’affaire EADS\/KC-45<\/a> est consid\u00e9rable pour un domaine si sp\u00e9cialis\u00e9. (L’affaire a \u00e9t\u00e9 \u00e9voqu\u00e9e dans les trois entretiens avec Obama des trois dirigeants d’Allemagne, de France et du Royaume-Uni, ce qui confirme le front commun<\/a> \u00e0 cet \u00e9gard.) Elle est mentionn\u00e9e \u00e0 deux reprises dans l’article d’Erlanger, notamment par un paragraphe entier: \u00abEuropeans are upset about a recent decision by the Pentagon to order a new round of bidding for a $35 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers. A European-led consortium won the contract, beating Boeing, earlier this year. But Boeing and its congressional supporters managed to have the bid reviewed and ultimately overturned.<\/em>\u00bb Il ne fait aucun doute que cette question des ravitailleurs en vol de l’USAF sera un des grands sujets de pol\u00e9mique transatlantique pour les prochains mois et au-del\u00e0, selon la dur\u00e9e du processus de s\u00e9lection de l’USAF.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \tObama, dans ses activit\u00e9s d’homme politique, est englob\u00e9 dans ces critiques. On retrouve les remarques d\u00e9j\u00e0<\/a> vues de Steve C. Clemons concernant l’absence de contact d’Obama avec l’Europe institutionnelle: \u00abAnd, despite what appears to be his sensitivity to European concerns, they perceive Obama as largely uninterested in Europe, even though he is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee responsible for the region. As the newspaper Le Monde pointed out Thursday, Obama has never asked to meet the European Union’s ambassador in Washington.<\/em>\u00bb<\/p>\n<\/p>\n