Old Europe is a term that was popularized in January 2003 after then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used it to refer to European countries that did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq, specifically France and Germany. Since then, the term has been used by pundits and media personalities to describe various combinations of the first-world countries of Europe; comedian Jon Stewart, for example, has applied the term humorously to all We...
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Old Europe is a term that was popularized in January 2003 after then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used it to refer to European countries that did not support the 2003 invasion of Iraq, specifically France and Germany. Since then, the term has been used by pundits and media personalities to describe various combinations of the first-world countries of Europe; comedian Jon Stewart, for example, has applied the term humorously to all Western European Great Powers, most notably Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
On January 22, 2003 Rumsfeld answered a question from Charles Groenhuijsen, a Dutch journalist, about the potential US invasion:
The expression was interpreted as a dig against a "sclerotic" and old-fashioned Western Europe. It became a potent symbol, especially after division emerged over Iraq between France and Germany and some of the new Central and Southeastern European entrants and applicants to NATO and the European Union.
Further diplomatic tension built...
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