European Institute

An interesting narrative that emerges from the newly-disclosed secret State Department cable traffic documents the Obama administration’s success in getting European support for sanctions and other actions against Iran. After the presidential elections in 2008, the new team in Washington developed a sustained diplomatic focus on the issue and proved more effective in this regard than earlier efforts by the Bush administration, which had its hands full with the war in Iraq. The change of emphasis and clarity is described in a New York Times story based on the documents released by Wikileaks.

The New York Times story said in part: "The Czechs were identified as surprisingly enthusiastic behind-the-scenes allies. Another section of the same cable was titled “Single Out but Understand the E.U. Foot-Draggers”: Sweden, considered something of a ringleader, followed by Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Spain, Austria, Portugal and Romania... [but the Obama administration eventually clarified its position and]... "the decoding of Mr. Obama’s plan was apparently all the Europeans needed, and by year’s end, even Germany, with its suspicions and longstanding trading ties with Iran, appeared to be on board."

See the whole New York times excerpt here.

--- By European Affairs