'Soft' Europe must come into its own

Even for a politician as adroit as Tony Blair, it has been hard to maintain a balance between Europe and the United States in the gales of the Iraq war and its aftermath. During the war, Britain has inevitably moved closer to the US, sharing its commitment to military action without the legitimation of a United Nations resolution, and accepting American overall command. France and Germany, on the other hand, have been unmoved in their opposition to that military action, and they are equally opposed to a Pentagon-led reconstruction of Iraq once military action is at an end.

The Government is keen to restore relations with its European Union neighbours. It strongly supported the German delegation to the UN Security Council in pressing for resolution 1472, the one that enabled the oil-for-food programme to be restarted, and the immediate humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people to be met under the auspices of the UN. The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, met his French counterpart, Dominique de Villepin, on Wednesday "to maintain and strengthen ties", and the two foreign ministers managed to sing a harmonious duet at their joint press conference.

But beneath these efforts to rebuild their badly bruised relations, there remain strong differences. Whether they can be resolved depends on the immediate decisions of the Bush administration, and the ability of Tony Blair to influence them. The Prime Minister decided months ago that the only way to influence the world's only superpower, the United States, was by proving his loyalty and then encouraging it to move in a multilateral direction. He accepted that, militarily, we live in a unipolar world. France and Germany do not accept that. They would like the EU to become a counterbalance to the US.

That is a distant dream. The Iraq war has confronted the EU with its own weakness. It has been unable to get its act together. Divided, quarrelsome, and militarily feeble, it has, to use Chris Patten's words, "cut a sorry figure" in recent weeks. But the lessons are being learnt. This weekend's long-arranged meeting between Germany and Russia in St Petersburg has been joined by France. Top of the agenda is policy towards post-war Iraq, and France is determined that the UN shall have the central role. "We are no longer in an era when one or two countries can control the fate of another," said President Chirac after meeting Ruud Lubbers, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, last week.

That is not the only indication of "old Europe" – to use Donald Rumsfeld's demeaning phrase – flexing its muscles. The first step towards an EU military force was taken at the end of last month when the EU took over from Nato command of the small force in Macedonia – some 300 soldiers. That was little more than symbolic, but beyond it lies the much bigger operation in Bosnia. Europe, however, is still far from being responsible even for its own security.

A further summit meeting is to be held on 29 April to discuss European defence policy and, in particular, moves towards establishing the long- promised, 60,000-strong Rapid Reaction Force. Clearly, more money will have to be found for defence. As things stand, Britain will not be present at either meeting.

Europe's military strength, its "hard power", may be derisory, as Donald Rumsfeld implied. Its "soft power", to repeat the phrase used by Joe Nye, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, is formidable indeed – and indispensable to the reconstruction of Iraq. To many in the modern world, soft power offers a much more attractive alternative than the Hobbesian world of hard power, where might makes right.

That soft power is not just money, though money is important. It is aid, trade, investment, expertise and, not least, the concept of a rule of law based on respect for human rights and international treaties. These elements of soft power have been the magnets attracting the newly liberated countries of central and eastern Europe into the EU, and leading many others, from Turkey and Morocco to Ukraine, to hope for future membership.

The immediate test of whether Europe's soft power can complement America's hard power is posed by the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq under US military control, with the Pentagon selecting those who will represent the defeated country, is not compatible with the presence of NGOs, or with a central role for the UN. Britain, predictably, is trying to find a formula that both sides can live with. The welcome resistance of the US Congress to Pentagon control should greatly help that process.

The next test will come with the road map for peace in the Middle East. It has not yet been published. The Sharon government has raised many objections to the draft. Its spokesman, Dov Weissglas, has caustically criticised Tony Blair for his "extreme positions" – an extraordinary comment. Here again, European soft power could be critically important, both to sustain financially the reformed Palestinian Authority, and to press for the road map to be followed without procrastination.

Whether Europe and America can work together on such matters remains to be seen. But there are some plans which are non-negotiable. Prime among them would be any proposal to extend military action from Iraq to her neighbours, Syria and Iran. Such a proposal would strain even Mr Blair's loyalty. If Europe and America are to work together to bring about a peaceful and orderly world, the wilder aims of the neo-conservative cabal in Washington must be rejected.

Baroness Williams is leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords