Old Europe, new security: evolution for a complex world

Many of the US criticisms of Western European reluctance to engage in the 2004 war in Iraq stem from a perception that these governments are 'weak on defence' or unwilling to 'pull their own weight' in the international system.

Secretary Rumsfeld pejoratively designated traditional Atlantic Alliance allies as 'Old Europe', to distinguish them from the freshly minted, cooperative states of 'New Europe'.

In doing so, Rumsfeld accused 'Old Europe' of yet again relying on the United States to solve shared security problems.