Europe is Your New Mr. Irrelevant

Fairly weighty news out of Paris, where the Times' Steven Erlanger writes that Obama is "schedule-conflicting" (that is, ditching) an important EU summit. Facing similar domestic pressures, most other American Presidents would probably have made the same call. But a couple of things stand out about this decision. First, if Obama had any interest in convincing European allies to contribute more troops in Afghanistan, he would have attended the meeting--even if, as the Times notes, he generally feels no emotional connection to any European country. A potential subplot, though, can also be found in this report (FR) from LeMonde, which alleges that relations between Sarkozy and Obama have become "unhealthy." As he told Le Parisien one month ago, Sarkozy finds Obama lacking in leadership qualities. There is also this exchange at the Security Council last summer, in which Sarkozy accused Obama of going soft on Iran. As many have pointed out, the political situation on the home front is forcing Obama to shelve all foreign policy issues except Afghanistan and still-shaky arms negotiations with Russia. Obama remains very popular among European citizens, but it's difficult to see what concessions he's likely to get out of EU governments.