TransAtlantic Differences not Accidental: Lee Kuan Yew

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, May 31, 2003

TransAtlantic Differences not Accidental: Lee Kuan Yew

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Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew has pointed out that the TransAtlantic differences highlighted in the Iraq war is not an accident both sides can put behind them and that the TransAtlantic relations may not return to the previous level of intimacy.

He also said that as Britain wants Europe to embrace the UnitedStates as a full partner, France on the other hand believes that Europe should be a counterweight to restrain American excessive unilaterism.

Lee made the point while delivering a keynote speech Friday evening to launch the 2nd Asia Security Conference organized by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Noting that Germany, America's most loyal and steadfast European ally for 50 years since the end of World War II, joined Russia and France in opposing the United States in a public stand-off in the UN Security Council, he said this marked the end of an era and the Iraq war shattered the definition of "the West."

This is because terrorism, the Israel-Palestinian conflict and the shape of the Middle East after Iraq may sharpen TransAtlantic differences, he explained to some 200 delegates attending the three-day conference which is also called "The Shangri-La Dialogue."

He cited the differences between Europeans and Americans over terrorism which he said is the number one enemy for Americans after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Europeans agree terrorism is a problem which Europe has learned to live with but they regard the primary cause of terrorism as the unending Israeli-Palestinian conflict and America's unqualified support for Israel, he said.

Europeans believe a just and enduring settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is possible if America not only wills it but also works in close partnership with a Europe that is seen by the Arabs as more even-handed than the United States, he added.

Turning to the US stand, he said the United States does not agree that the Arab-Israeli conflict is the primary cause of terrorism and it believes that terrorism by Islamic militants has to be considered in the context of the wider problems of the Middle East and the Arab/Moslem world.

The United States sees the need to change the geo-political balance in the Middle East and reshape the political structures of Arab countries to make them more democratic and focused on development and progress, he stressed.

He added that Washington believes change and reshaping in the Middle East will allow an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, and placing the US power right in the heart of the Middle East, in Iraq and the Gulf States will result in Iran and Syria being flanked by American-friendly states.

Lee also pointed out that whether changes in the Middle East after the fall of Saddam's Iraq can lead to a stable balance in the longer term is not certain.

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