Kerry changes US focus back onto Europe

After much talk about a US pivot to Asia, signs of a revived American interest in Europe abound, reassuring Europeans worried about their status as Washington's closest allies.

United States Secretary of State John Kerry left on Sunday for London, the first stop on a nine nation, 11-day trip that will take him to Europe before heading to the Middle East.

His predecessor Hillary Clinton chose Asia for her maiden overseas tour.

US President Barack Obama has billed himself as "America's first Pacific president," but seems to have taken a fresh look at the Old Continent during his second term, launching negotiations for an ambitious transatlantic free trade deal.

When US Vice-President Joe Biden addressed high-ranking officials, ministers and top military brass at the Munich Security Conference three weeks ago, he assured Europeans that Washington still values transatlantic ties.

Tyson Barker, director of transatlantic relations at the Bertelsmann Foundation North America, said during Obama's first term "the fascination with Asia was palpable and it permeated all of their strategic thinking".

Now the president acknowledges the need "to consolidate and retro-fit some of our legacy relationships", he added.

"The focus on China's surge during the past decade has obscured the continuing strength of Europe and the US, and the continuing importance for each other," William Galston of the Brookings Institution wrote in a recent op-ed.

In times of fiscal belt-tightening at home, the US also hopes that Europe will assume more responsibility on the international scene, especially on its southern flank in North Africa.

Kerry's trip might make up for some of the lack of attention Europeans have felt over the past few years. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed Kerry's visit to London, Berlin, Paris and Rome as "an important transatlantic signal".

"This proves everyone wrong, who thought that Europe does not matter anymore for the US," he told German daily Passauer Neue Presse.

Kerry is someone who is "comfortable engaging with Europe, and someone with whom Europe is comfortable engaging", Barker told AFP.

As a child, he lived in post-World War II Berlin when his father was a Foreign Service officer in the divided city. The secretary of state also attended a Swiss boarding school and has relatives in France.

After talks with allies in London, Berlin and Paris, Kerry travels to Rome to meet members of the Syrian opposition as well as a wider group of nations seeking to support them in their nearly two-year quest to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

While the opposition Syrian National Coalition is willing to negotiate a peace deal to end the country's civil war, members this week agreed that Assad must step down and cannot be a party to any settlement.

The political chasm between the sides, along with a lack of opposition influence over rebels on the ground and an international diplomatic deadlock preventing effective intervention, has allowed fighting to rage on. Almost 70,000 people have been killed in 22 months of conflict, according to a United Nations estimate.

Obama has limited US support to non-lethal aid for the rebels who, despite receiving weapons from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are poorly armed compared to Assad's army and loyalist militias.

Although the Obama administration appears to be rethinking the question of arming the rebels, there are few signs it is on the verge of a new approach toward Syria, said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.

Reuters-AFP-China Daily

(China Daily 02/25/2013 page11)