Success of Airbus symbolizes a vibrant, united Europe

The A380, the behemoth airliner rolled out recently by the Europeans, is not just about Boeing.

The Airbus Industrie's mammoth jet is really all about Europe.

And Americans who have made fun of "the old Europe" — Donald Rumsfeld comes to mind — sooner or later must wake up and smell the fondue.

Increasingly, there is no "old Europe" or "new Europe." There is simply one Europe, and it is rapidly surpassing the United States in areas where we have long dominated.

Airplane manufacturing is just one of these areas; Airbus passed Boeing in 2003 and looks to lead for the foreseeable future.

As T.R. Reid points out in his excellent book, "The United States of Europe" (Penguin, 2004), a great deal of American business and industry is now owned by European firms, and the European Union is capable of checkmating American industries that formerly had been able to call the shots internationally.

It remains to be seen, of course, whether the A380 will dominate international travel as Boeing's aircraft have for many years. There is a "Spruce Goose" look to the thing.

But Airbus Industrie is a symbol of what is happening in Europe, with serious implications for American industry.

Airbus began as a government-financed effort to preserve Europe's airframe industry, with Britain, France and Germany cooperating in 1967 to form a counterweight to Boeing's domination of the field. It is now privately owned, and profitable.

Americans scorn this as "socialism," a term in bad odor in this country but widely accepted in Europe. We have our own forms of socialism, of course — no-bid contracts for Halliburton, tax giveaways and no-bid or rigged contracts for other defense contractors. We just don't call it socialism.

The combination of socialism and private enterprise is one of the tools Europe is using to compete with us, just as Japan has done with its close linkage of business and government.

Final assembly of the A380 was in Toulouse, France, following subcontracting in a dozen countries, a truly European effort. The idea that such a thing can occur on a continent that 60 years ago was a rubble heap of war and hatred is staggering.

What has happened in Europe is that an entire continent has turned its back on war and given up some of the trappings of nationalism in order to keep the peace. Americans simply don't understand the war-weariness of Europeans; the 20th century for Europe was one war after another, all fought on European soil.

This explains not only the commitment to working together but the general European reluctance to engage in American crusades, from Vietnam to Iraq. That front row of dignitaries unveiling the A380 was, with the notable exception of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, composed of adamant opponents of Bush administration foreign policy.

America has the military power to defeat any enemy, at least in the short term, but the cost of this militarism has been to divert billions of tax dollars into armaments, military personnel and defense contractors. This is the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned of half a century ago.

Europe has basically turned its back on the military-industrial complex, thanks in no small part to our willingness (eagerness, even) to engage in wars to liberate and democratize on our terms. There is a European Union military force, and all EU nations maintain armed forces, but even together they are dwarfed by our military might.

We are attempting to combat Islamic extremism with guns; EU nations are trying to accommodate their growing Muslim populations and bring Turkey into the EU. Neither tactic is certain, but ours has been bloodier and costlier.

While we are building armies, Europe is building a standard of living that is in many ways superior to ours. Certainly, many Europeans have better health care, shorter work weeks, longer vacations and a stronger currency. The European press is free and vibrant, arts and culture flourish, and European cities attract rather than repel visitors.

The European debt to Americans is substantial — our entry into World War II saved democracy in Europe, and the Marshall Plan was critical to its rebuilding. Europeans have not forgotten these legacies, as witnessed most recently on 9/11 when all of Europe grieved for America.

But Europe is not willing to be only a marketplace for American goods and an echo of American votes in the United Nations. The resolve of EU leaders to be a counterweight to American power is well illustrated with the unveiling of the A380.

Floyd J. McKay, a journalism professor emeritus at Western Washington University, is a regular contributor to Times editorial pages. E-mail him at floydmckay@yahoo.com