In President Obama's second term there are two longer-term developments that will affect the relationship with Europe. The first is the US budget deficit, the second the so-called "pivot", or the rebalancing of focus towards Asia. America's finances will mean, now even more than in the first term, the US will be what some have called a "frugal superpower", leading from behind as they did in Libya, and as they look to be doing in Mali. But then that frugal nature is not altogether bad news. The US remains by far the biggest customer for European exporters. Generally the Europeans are content with the status quo. The last thing they need at a time when Europe is so embroiled in its own internal debates, is the external distraction of a change in guard across the pond.


在奥巴马总统的第二任期有两个长期的发展将影响美国与欧洲的关系。首先是美国的预算赤字，第二个所谓的“枢纽”，或调整的重点转向亚洲。 美国的财政状况将意味着，现在甚至比在第一任期内，美国将一些所谓的“节俭的超级大国”，从背后领导他们比如在利比亚，在马里。但那节俭的性质并不完全是坏消息。美国迄今仍是欧洲出口商最大的客户。一般的欧洲人都满足于现状。当欧洲陷于内讧的时候，他们最不希望的就是横跨大西洋的“警戒”来干扰他们。