By Yusuf Kanli
TDN- Who will win the US presidential race; what is its probable impact on bilateral relations and global issues, led by the fight against terrorism; could the result help the US and Europe leave behind the chill in ties that developed because of a cowboy-style arrogance in Washington? These and other such questions have now become redundant. It's now time for real politics
The entire world has been discussing the U.S. presidential race for a year longer than the Americans have. Who will win the U.S. presidential race; what is its probable impact on bilateral relations and global issues, led by the fight against terrorism; could the result help the United States and Europe leave behind the chill in ties that developed because of a cowboy-style arrogance in Washington? These were just some of the questions the international public was debating.
Although the Ohio complication will lead to some delay in the official announcement of the election results, as of yesterday morning, excluding Democratic candidate John Kerry and his staunch supporters, it's being acknowledged both in the United States and elsewhere that the incumbent, Texas cowboy George Walker Bush, has been re-elected to a second term in office.
Ifs and buts, the question of who will be elected and calculations of the possible impact on bilateral and global developments have all become redundant since it's now time for real politics.
Despite differing positions between some of the heavyweights of continental policymaking and the Texan cowboy-president's team in Washington, the EU must now reassess its Iraq policy and try to make every possible contribution to ensure stabilization of the situation in Iraq because it is in the best interest of not only the European Union but of the entire international community -- particularly Iraq's neighbors, not the least among them, Turkey.
The EU must act realistically and acknowledge the requirement of maintaining a close relationship with the United States even though no significant change, unfortunately, will most likely be seen in the style of the Bush presidency. Still, through close cooperation Bush's policies could somehow be moderated.
It is a generally acknowledged fact that in their second terms in office American presidents tend to pursue a bolder line than their first terms and undertake courageous moves. In his first term in office Bush was bold enough in his approach to the extent of declaring to the world, "You are either with us or against us," which created a serious rift between the United States and its traditional allies. Bush, who would consider his re-election an endorsement of his cowboy-style active and independent engagement -- disregarding Washington's ages-long alliances -- will press even harder in his global fight against terrorism and convert the entire world into a global wild west with bounty posters seeking the capture -- dead or alive -- of the masterminds of terrorism.
Perhaps, a concerted effort by Washington's allies might succeed in conveying the message to Bush that the entire world now needs a United States that involves all its allies and partners more closely.
On Iraq, the key issue is the consolidation of the central administration as well as the January election, which, if it goes smoothly -- and no one, indeed, has any such illusions at the moment -- could help establish a national consensus government in Baghdad that, together with providing a U.N. umbrella to the foreign (particularly American) military presence there, could be instrumental in ending the insurgency.
Unfortunately, at this point, no one is in a position to rule out a possible new adventure in the Middle East on the part of a reinvigorated Bush administration. Turkey has to watch out for this danger and through close cooperation use every persuasive means at its disposal to prevent a mishap that could further destabilize our region.
Relations with the United States are important for Turkey, but they should be important for Washington as well. Turkey has been let down by its American allies as regards cooperation in fighting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) despite all the rhetoric concerning the global war on terrorism. In this new period, Ankara must make clear to Washington that cooperation is a two-way street.