Fabrice Pothier, Director of Carnegie Europe
Fabrice Pothier is the director of Carnegie Europe, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's pan-European foreign policy forum for senior policy makers, experts, and leading journalists. Pothier is a noted commentator on European policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan, transatlantic issues, and global drugs policy.
Prior to his appointment, Pothier was head of policy analysis and co-founder of the Senlis Council (now ICOS), an international security and development group with a special focus on counternarcotics and Afghanistan, which was initiated by the Network of European Foundations. He also led special projects in Afghanistan on the relations between narcotics, insurgents, and poverty.
1. What are your current priorities in your
work as the director of Carnegie Europe?
My main priority is to make our organization one of the most dynamic providers
of ideas and analyses on European foreign policy. Our goal is to do so by
bringing non-European perspectives to the table. In some of the most daunting foreign policy
issues currently facing Europe, from cooperation with Russia, to political
stability in the Middle East or security challenges in South Asia, Carnegie can provide the unique insights of
scholars who are based in those very regions, like Dmitri Trenin in Moscow or
Paul Salem in Beirut. A second, and
complementary priority, is to bring a greater European dimension to our work
and thinking, not only in Washington D.C., but also throughout Carnegie's regional centers in
the Middle East, Russia, and
Asia. A compelling example has been the work
we have done with NATO's new Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, on the
question of the West's relations with Russia. This collaborative effort evolved from a
series of private briefings in Copenhagen, to
Carnegie Europe hosting Secretary General Rasmussen's first foreign policy
speech in Brussels in September, and is soon to
be followed by a speech in Moscow
in December.
2. In August 2009 you argued that Obama and
Sarkozy have similar ‘big tent' governing styles, does that common domestic
approach hold the promise of improved international cooperation?
Behind the very different personal styles of both leaders lies the same
willingness to engage at the international level with other countries and
leaders, and not necessarily the friendly ones. This has been particularly
clear in President Sarkozy's rapprochement with Syria,
which has long been a pariah in the West and especially in France, where
it is seen as responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Hariri. Obama's open-hand policy with Iran reflects the same attempt to
put engagement and dialogue at the heart of foreign policy. However, in either
case, each leader is trying to balance dialogue with firmness on defending
national interests.
3. What is the greatest challenge to the
transatlantic relationship?
The greatest challenge currently facing
the transatlantic relationship is that it falls into strategic irrelevance and
lacks the substance and means to tackle global issues such as the financial
crisis, climate change or violence in South Asia.
There is a real risk that the relationship will start to seem hollow to the US
and that for Europe, which is rarely able to rally around issues of importance
to the relationship, it will become nothing more than a series of
self-reassuring, photo-opportunity meetings. Europeans overwhelmingly supported
President Obama as a candidate in the last elections. However, we should not forget that he is
first and foremost the president of the United States and a pragmatist. He
will work with those countries and regions that are ready to assist the US in
tackling the global issues it faces. He
is unlikely, however, to invest more than the bare minimum of time or effort
with those countries that will not help to carry his foreign policy agenda.
This reality has been clearly illustrated by
the situation in Afghanistan,
where the Obama administration is open to contributions from European
countries, but is not waiting for them to formulate its own strategy and
commitments. China
is another example. Obama has put
cooperation with China at
the centre of his foreign policy agenda on a range of issues from climate
change, to economic policy and the strategic balance in Asia, whilst Europe sits on the sidelines with little or no coherent
political strategy at all.
Ultimately, Europe needs to define a
post-transatlantic relationship with the US.
To do so, it will need to place less emphasis on shared values and more
on identifying and defining converging interests. For this to be successful, Europe will have to work harder at home to define its
common interests on key issues.
