From Art Goldhammer, taken out of context from a post worth reading in its entirety on French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s grandstanding at the Copenhagen summit:
China, meanwhile, insists on remaining inscrutable — and jealous of itssovereignty. In post-sovereign Europe this smacks of archaism, whereasin imperial America it is perceived as a threat.
The EU countries, who have experience hammering out impossible compromises at “post-sovereign” summits, probably find the Chinese position a bit distasteful, too. A hard deal? Sure. A meaningless deal? Why not. But no deal? That’s simply uncivilized.
I’d probably replace “imperial” with “unilateral.” And I’d note that there’s also a big difference in the respective roles the U.S. and EU play in terms of Asia’s security architecture. But I think Goldhammer has hit on something that marks thedifference in how the U.S. and EU approach China and its rise.