It's about time

is Europe old or new?

Jan Ifversen

pp. 170-189

in: Richard Mole (ed), Discursive constructions of identity in European politics, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Abstract

Recently there has been much debate about whether Europe is old or new. The debate was ignited by US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's casual remark in January 2003 that Europe could be divided into old and new. What Rumsfeld meant by this remark has been the subject of considerable debate. Among those appointed "new" Europeans by Rumsfeld were the upcoming EU member states of Central and Eastern Europe, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, as well as longer-standing members such as Spain, Britain and Denmark. The only apparent common trait among these "new" Europeans was that their governments supported the American position on the Iraq crisis (and would sign the so-called "letter of the eight" a week after Rumsfeld's remark). At first glance Rumsfeld's understanding of "novelty" seemed to mean alignment with the US government on its Iraq policy.