Antony J. Blinken, the 71st U.S. Secretary of State, 2021 U.S. State Department Photo.
October 20, 2009
Updated July 25, 2021 to show that Anthony J. Blinken was nominated by President Biden on November 23, 2020; confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 26, 2021; and sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris the following day as the 71st U.S. Secretary of State.
This article was also published in October 2009 by Digital Journal but is no longer available on the Digital Journal platform.
By Ted Lipien
SAN FRANCISCO Tony Blinken, national security adviser to the vice president, said in a briefing with reporters before Biden left for Europe October 20, that leaders in Warsaw, Bucharest and Prague should think less of what the U.S. can do for them and more about what they can do with the United States.
Sounding more like an “Ugly American” than a member of the administration that promised a new, sensitive approach to dealing with other nations, Blinken said that “The United States is thinking about the region less in terms of what we can do for Central Europe and more in terms of what we can do with Central Europe.” “The countries are no longer post-communist, or in transition; they are full-fledged members of the NATO alliance and the European Union, with serious and substantial responsibilities,” Blinken said.
Eastern Europe’s security concerns, Blinken said, remain a significant U.S. concern, despite a recent change in a proposed missile defense system for Europe. But Blinken cautioned that the trip is not all about missile defense; it involves a broad range of issues including support for U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan, advancing democracy in Eastern Europe, energy and climate change issues, and recovery from the global economic crisis.
Biden’s aide tells East Europeans to get over Cold War history
During the trip, Europe will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall that effectively signaled the beginning of the end of the Cold War in Europe and around the world.
“The vice president is going to mark the moment, but his focus is going to be much more on the future than on the past,” Blinken said. “In his view, the real validation of 1989 is less in what we took down and more in what we built and continue to build together: strong democracies, strong partnerships that deliver for people in all of our countries and beyond.”
This comment may reflect the Obama Administration’s thinking that Central European leaders and societies are too focused on history and are too fearful of Russia. Downplaying of the importance of the fall of communist dictatorships is not likely to be well received in Central Europe but will be welcome news in Russia, where officials and pro-government scholars have engaged in a campaign to rehabilitate Stalin and Soviet history.
The White House did not think World War II and Cold War history was terribly important when President Obama chose to announce his decision to cancel the Bush Administration missile defense plans in Poland and the Czech Republic on the day the Poles were observing the 70th anniversary of the invasion of their country by the Red Army. Soviet troops attacked Poland on September 17, 1939 under the secret terms of Stalin’s pact with Hitler, whose armies invaded the country on September 1. President Obama declined the Polish government’s invitation to attend the 70th anniversary observances of the outbreak of World War II, which were held in Gdansk, Poland, the birthplace of the Solidarity labor union.
And now President Obama has decided to ignore another historical anniversary. Biden’s advisor Tony Blinken did not explain the reasons behind the cancellation of President Obama’s trip to attend the 20th anniversary observances in Berlin of the fall of communism in Central Europe. The White House blamed the cancellation on a scheduling conflict, but it is seen as yet another indication that Central Europe and support for resisting the Kremlin’s efforts to reestablish a sphere of influence in the region are low on President Obama’s list of priorities.
As NATO members, Blinken said, each nation is committed to the others’ defense, and all three allies make important contributions with soldiers and civilians to the effort in Afghanistan, as well as in Iraq and in the Balkans.
The overall message of Vice President Biden’s advisor, “don’t ask America for more but give more yourselves,” could be viewed in Central Europe not just as harsh but quite arrogant, coming from the Administration that had recently removed important security arrangements that gave the region extra protection against Russian imperial ambitions.
Despite the undiplomatic language of the vice president’s aide that seems to reflect the real intentions of the Obama White House, Vice President Biden himself has shown, at least in public, far greater concern and interest in Central Europe than his boss. As vice president, he won’t be able to deliver much, but he’s the best the Central Europeans can get from the Obama Administration.
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3 users commented in " Biden’s advisor: think less of what U.S. can do for Central Europe, get over history "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThis administration seems to have no sense of history, maybe no knowledge of it. Certainly, there is little or no evidence of an appreciation for the experience of others.
Many people living in Eastern Europe today lived through most of the Communist years. They still remember the fear that permeated their daily lives during that period. A lot of those people are even now reluctant to talk about life under the Communist regime. They definitely do not trust the current leadership in Russia.
There is no need to live in the past, but it is selfish and callous to disregard and dismiss the courage and fortitude those people displayed for more than four decades. Surely there must be ways both to honor history and to encourage cooperation and progress for the future — or at least to find spokesmen who won’t continue to offend and alarm some of the country’s longest-standing allies.
There is a good saying in Russian language and the saying may be addressed to East Europeans today: One can not jump over his head. This can be interpreted as: if your are not strong enough you’d better do not irritate your neighbors. This is pretty much can addressed today to Poland and Baltic “States”.
It’s time for Poland and Baltic states to think what are they able to sell to the world except their anti-russian rhetoric. They have to build their ecomomy, so their good relationships with Russia can be much more useful for their economy than their platonic relationships with USA which is so far away.
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