Time Essay: The U.S. and Europe: Talking Back

Whatever unity, cosmetic or genuine, was produced in that mirage of a city, Venice, could not hide the reality of the deep fissure between the U.S. and Europe. The decline of American strength that so impresses and distresses the Europeans is undeniable (see NATION). This weakening—in economic thrust, military force and will power—constitutes a crisis in American history. Unquestionably it has been aggravated by the Carter Administration's devastating policy zigzags and frequent ineptness. But it must be said, between friends, that the Western European estimate of the American decline is surely exaggerated,...

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