LONDON -- "Go it alone" is clearly the prevailing mood in Washington. Officials and commentators alike argue that with the United States' overwhelming military might and Europe's alleged weakness, the world must be set right by unilateral American action, and the international community can either like it or lump it.

There is much to admire and respect about America today. There is no doubt that its economic vigor is unending, that its military spending dwarfs all other nations and that it remains the vital ally for all freedom-loving countries.

Yet could it be that in this case the U.S. attitude is resting on a fatally flawed analysis? Could it be that this vast American power and strength contains, in modern conditions, a kind of weakness, while the weakness of Europe, about which Washington experts speak so disparagingly, is in practice a source of strength.