President Bush's European trip

When U.S. President George W. Bush unpacks his bags in Washington this weekend, returning from his inaugural, problem- racked visit to Europe, he may conclude that this was not the most uplifting foray abroad he has ever made.

The list of such trips is admittedly short, which is one reason his name stirs some contempt among leaders and voters in Western Europe. An increasingly entrenched opinion of the most powerful man on the planet is that, unlike his predecessor Bill Clinton, Mr. Bush is an unsophisticated Texas yahoo who cares much about the United States and little about the rest of the world.

Unfair, perhaps. Mr. Bush may be a novice globetrotter, but the same is not true of the foreign-policy experts he has appointed to his cabinet. European animosity to the President, moreover, is lent force by his views on a range of domestic U.S. issues that have little impact abroad: his enthusiasm for the death penalty, his hostility to abortion and his reluctance to champion tougher gun legislation or more lenient drug laws. Yet there is no escaping that during his few short months in office, Mr. Bush has managed to fuel the perception of a White House administration that thinks and acts unilaterally, with worryingly scant concern for its allies.

Protectionism, underscored by soon-to-be-renegotiated trade treaties, is one sore point, particularly in agriculture. Saber- rattling toward China over Taiwan has evoked European dismay. So has the U.S. stance on the Middle East, a position many in Europe perceive as disproportionately pro-Israel.

The key question is whether Mr. Bush is ready to pay attention to Europe, Canada or anyone else. He should. In our ever-more connected world, shrugging off its friends' worries will take the United States down a lonely road that is increasingly dangerous.

-- The Globe and Mail, Toronto