"Wall Street Journal Desnuda a Zapatero"

Dado que recientemente he tocado el tema de la “política exterior de Zapatero”, y que todavía estoy perfilando el post del método para ahorrarse una buena cantidad de dinero en la compra de la vivienda, no he podido resistir la tentación de poner hoy este genial artículo publicado por el Wall Stree Journal, en el que se muestra la imagen que nuestro talantoso presidente proyecta en el exterior.

Como se puede ver está en ingles, por lo que recuerdo a los que no sean doctos en la lengua de Shakespeare la posibilidad de usar el traductor haciendo click en la banderita de arriba.

Here's a European political pop quiz: What do Poland's Kaczynski twins and Spain's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero have in common? Discuss.

Ideologically, the men hail from different planets. Just for starters, the Polish duo wants to limit gay rights; Prime Minister Zapatero expands them with gusto. But on the global stage, these national leaders stand together, having both marginalized, needlessly one hastens to add, themselves and their once up-and-coming countries.

In the next months, Spanish and Polish voters can pass judgment on this feat. At EU summits, Spain is ignored and Poland's nothing more than a thorn in the side. Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's nominee for the opening atop the International Monetary Fund didn't even get a hearing in July. Across the pond, Mr. Zapatero claims few ears and fewer friends in Washington, which in his three-plus years in office he hasn't even visited.

Similarly sized countries (of around 40 million) with fast-growing economies and located strategically on Europe's eastern and western edges, Poland and Spain were poised to lead "a new Europe" and challenge the monopoly of the big three -- Germany, France and Britain -- atop the EU. For a while, the countries met this promise, pushing Europe to think and act more ambitiously.

As the largest Eastern European member of the EU, Poland was a strong advocate for free markets and democracy further east. Previous President Aleksander Kwasniewski played a crucial role in mediating a peaceful end to Ukraine's Orange Revolution in 2004. Warsaw stood up for Belarus's beleaguered opposition and sounded a warning about rising authoritarianism in Russia. Under previous Prime Minister José María Aznar, Spain took a lead in the Mediterranean and, following its investors, Latin America.

What made this possible was their strong commitment to the trans-Atlantic link. Mr. Aznar built Spanish foreign policy around a close friendship with Washington. From the moment communism fell in Europe, Warsaw worked closely alongside the U.S., particularly on Ukraine. Then came the change of political leadership in both countries, and the inheritance of international capital was fast whittled away.

In a matter of days, Mr. Zapatero took Spain from a front-line state to a backwater. On taking office days after the March 11 bombings in 2004, Mr. Zapatero, without consultation with allies, pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq. Other European countries, such as Italy, did the same without collateral political damage. By contrast, the new Spanish Prime Minister went out of his way to poke Washington in the eye. Among other petty slights, he disinvited the U.S. Marines from taking part in Spain's National Day parade.

In return, Spain gets no hearing from the world's most powerful country. This approach costs dearly in Europe, too, where Zapatero's Spain is taken for granted by the bigger powers.

President Lech Kaczynski is welcome in the U.S., and Poland remains a close and dependable ally. Washington plans to put missile defense interceptors in Poland; Polish troops have served bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the loss of Polish influence in Europe makes the country a less useful ally. Its legitimate concerns about the undemocratic EU constitution -- recently rechristened a "reform treaty" -- or Russian expansionism fall largely on deaf ears in Europe.

The Spanish Prime Minister as well as the Kaczynski brothers have little foreign experience or language skills. All three are provincials abroad, preferring to stay close to home. Angered by a German magazine article, President Kaczynski famously failed to turn up for a summit with the leaders of France and Germany. Hardly statesmanlike behavior.

The Polish Sejm, or assembly, dissolved itself Friday and called early elections for October 21, amid coalition wrangling. Spaniards will vote next March. Concerns close to home come first in national polls. But in a Europe of blurring borders, foreign policy is increasingly an extension of domestic policy. The decline of Poland and Spain, and its concomitant blow to their national interests, would make a useful topic of debate.

What a shame if "new Europe" were to pass away so prematurely.

PD: también anunciar que este blog ha tenido el honor de recibir su tercer Thinking Blogger Award de manos de Lobeznox, que desde una bitácora con homónimo nombre desmenuza la realidad que nos rodea con sus garras … (no diré el material del que están hechas para evitar chistes fáciles :P ). Dado que recientemente he cumplido el requisito de recomendar 5 blogs , eludiré hacer el nombramiento de los mismos de nuevo para no ser reiterativo.