The Pre- and Post-Bush Divide.(George Bush's foreign policy)

Byline: Andrew Nagorski

A short time ago, the Bush administration's relations with, in Donald Rumsfeld's immortal words, "old Europe" were chilly, cold, in the deep freeze (pick your cliche). Now the U.S. secretary of Defense is disarming his critics by talking about "the old Rumsfeld," exuding sweetness and light. A short time ago, even many members of "the coalition of the willing" were privately oozing pessimism about Iraq. Now, with the new ripples of optimism visible throughout the Middle East, even staunch critics of the war are beginning to wonder if they haven't misjudged President Bush as completely as a previous generation misjudged Ronald Reagan. When it comes to its feelings about the United States, much of the world finds itself veering from one extreme to another--rarely finding more stable middle ground.

There's a lesson in the latest global rethink of Bush's foreign policy, but it's one that goes well beyond the relative merits of the arguments that this administration has been pursuing either a disastrous or brilliant strategy. It has more to do with the fundamental differences between what America is and how it sees its role in the world, and how others--especially Western Europeans and many in the Middle East--view that role, than with the policies of any particular presidential team. Yes, Bush dramatically accentuated those differences in his first term. But the tensions, disagreements and emotions of that period echoed many of the disputes that engulfed previous administrations and undoubtedly will reverberate again in future administrations.

It took an eloquent old-world author, Italy's Luigi Barzini, to put his finger on the key thing that sets Americans apart. Writing in the early 1980s, he explained that Americans believe "that all problems not only must be solved, but also that they can be solved, and that in fact the main purpose of a man's life is the solution of problems." Hence, the audacity of a nation that could resolve to rebuild Germany and Japan, demand the tearing down of the Berlin wall and proclaim the dawn of a new era of democracy in the Middle East. Most Europeans, Barzini noted, believe that life is all about living with unresolved problems, or accepting the fact that many problems take several generations to solve. For them, the American attitude is naive at best and reckless at worst.

Barzini's analysis is both laudatory and cautionary. American impatience to solve problems can produce impressive results, or lead to disasters like ...