LONDON — It has been almost one year since the European Union committed to stabilize Lebanon following last summer's war. With its decision to send thousands of soldiers to Lebanon to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, the EU took its boldest step yet in creating a common foreign and security policy. But it remains an open question whether the EU will actually be able to stabilize the most fractured polity in the most dangerous area of conflict in Europe's immediate neighborhood.
The Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006 reminded the EU, once again, that its strategic interests do not always coincide perfectly with those of the United States. Because the Bush administration took a "hands off" approach to the Israel-Hezbollah war in south Lebanon, and given the military straitjacket the U.S. finds itself in because of the Iraq war, the EU had to take the lead.
The EU remains — for now — relatively uncontaminated by America's disintegrating reputation in the Middle East. But the EU could see its reputation worsen if it allows its commitment to Lebanon to become part of the emerging U.S. strategy of isolating Iran by hardening today's regional Sunni-Shiite divisions.