European Governments Falling Down

The ruling Dutch coalition collapsed over the weekend over the question of whether to extend the country's troop commitments in Afghanistan. Dutch troops were originally supposed to have withdrawn in 2008, but the government agreed to extend their commitment to 2010 because no other NATO country volunteered to send replacements. Only 2,000 troops are currently committed, which may not seem like a lot, but they comprise an integral part of the NATO force operating in Southern Afghanistan. Because President Obama is tied down on domestic issues, he lacks the political capital to lobby countries like Netherlands to retain their troop presences. As a result, the Dutch government is unlikely to be the last to founder over this question.

Monday Morning Update: Looks like the Dutch might be on their way out even sooner than expected:

[NATO Airstrike Said To Have Killed Afghan Civilians]

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.

Just How Populist Does Obama Want to Get?

Enough to purchase a list of Wall Street tax evaders from a renegade HSBC employee?  Angela Merkel, facing far less angst at home than Obama, has now declared an interest in availing herself of the list.  The BBC puts the potential yield from for the country at a relatively modest $100m; for the US, it would undoubtedly be far greater.  Sadly, from a political perspective, the odds that the President would order up the list are remote.  Still, the story of how the list surfaced is worth checking out.

Update 2/4: LeMonde now reporting that the Germans stand to recoup "well above" the $100m figure initially quoted.