Why Romania Is Becoming More Important to the US

Since 9/11, Romania has become one of America’s most important allies. As analysts cynically and yet pragmatically conclude, we owe our NATO membership to this tragic event.

U.S. interest in efficiently fighting and eradicating terrorist cells in the Middle East has meant consolidating Washington’s influence in southeast Europe. By accepting Romania and Bulgaria as member countries of NATO, the U.S., along with Turkey, has created a very influential geostrategic pivot in the area, set toward the Middle East. Unfortunately for Washington, this pivot has been shaky lately.

The latest developments in the area consolidate Romania’s position as America’s strategic ally. In order to understand this favorable context, of which our country should take advantage, we should first look at the latest developments in international politics, especially in southeast Europe and the Middle East.

In Bulgaria, the American company Chevron was forced to abandon its plans for shale gas exploitation. It was a major win for Russia, which has been a declared opponent of shale gas. Moscow wants to postpone the exploitation of this unconventional gas for at least five years to avoid a drastic cut in gas prices worldwide, which ultimately could be a fatal blow to a Russian economy that is mainly based on harnessing natural resources. At the moment, the low demand for gas is caused by the economic crisis, but the Russians are hopeful that in five years time Asian countries like China and the Asian Tigers will start to consume more than they do now and the price of gas will stay high.

The relationships between the U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia have been deteriorating lately. It is an unpleasant situation for Washington because during the last two decades the two countries have represented two major bulwarks in the fight against anti-American, fundamentalist Islamic regimes in the Middle East.

There are various reasons why the relationships have gone cold. Wanting to raise the regional influence of the country — also caused by Ankara’s frustration at being left out of Europe because of political, cultural and religious reasons — the government, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, started waving the Islamic flag after a long time, during which the secularism inherited from Kemal Ataturk was dominant. It is true that Erdogan was confronted with the people’s refusal to convert to Islam. Protests in Istanbul may have put his plans on hold, but they were never abandoned. Through Islam, Turkey is trying to find common ground with other countries in the region, especially with Iran, in order to create influential alliances. The relationship with the U.S. became so tense that the regime in Ankara was accused of having surrendered several Mossad agents to Iran. This was in obvious defiance against Washington and Israel, its main ally in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia is also becoming more hostile toward the U.S. Moreover, the Obama administration’s hesitation with regard to military intervention in Syria — an intervention that the Saudis actually wanted, in order to get rid of a serious competitor in the Middle East and therefore increase their geopolitical and economic influence — increased the tension even more in the bilateral relationships. Recently, Saudi Arabia refused to take the seat that it was offered in the United Nations Security Council, representing a position that had been negotiated for more than a year.

Another way to diminish the American influence in the Middle East is the surprising receptiveness of Iran. Unlike his predecessor Ahmadinejad, Iran’s new President Hassan Rouhani has already announced his country’s openness to foreign investments. The embargo imposed by the U.S. regarding the export of hydrocarbon resources weakened Iran’s economy. Being open to foreign investments does not necessarily mean the acceptance of American capital. China, who is an increasing threat to American supremacy worldwide, can’t wait to take advantage of the investment opportunities Iran will have to offer in the future.

Political changes favorable to the U.S. also occurred in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood was pushed away and power was taken by the military, giving Washington an advantage. In this context, the Cairo-Tel Aviv axis is becoming extremely important for American interests.

The relationship between the U.S. and the European Union is also affected by the espionage scandal triggered by Edward Snowden, a KGB-scented operation that is intensifying and that culminated in recent days with the information that Angela Merkel’s telephone conversations were monitored by the National Security Agency. This scandal created bad blood between North Atlantic allies.

In the EU’s counterattack after the scandal of espionage between allies, there was the roughening of conditions to exploit shale gas, which directly affects the United States’ economic interests. The new constraints include organizing referendums in the communities where the shale gas is to be exploited, hence risking projects being stopped before they even begin, especially since the ecologist propaganda supported with money from the East is very efficient. Even if the U.S.-EU relationship is not affected much, the espionage scandal will continue to fuel anti-American feelings among Europeans. These feelings have already been speculated on by the extremist political parties in the EU, especially those in France and the Netherlands, both of whom are trying to strengthen collaboration with their ideological partners in Europe.

Given that the relationship between Washington and its allies is deteriorating, and given the way the Obama administration is handling international relationships, Romania is becoming more and more important to the U.S. We are not just talking about purely commercial interests, the exploitation of our country or U.S. interest in buying our resources for pennies, but also about obvious geostrategic interests. Those threatening the Americans’ economic interests are actually trying to weaken their geopolitical influence.

The growing interest of the U.S. in Romania will make Washington determined to keep a close eye on next year’s presidential battle. This is the reason why Prime Minister Victor Ponta was welcomed in Washington. Now more than ever, the Americans need the relationship with Romania to be predictable. In other words, they need to know they can rely on Bucharest, even after current President Traian Băsescu ends his mandate. The Romanian politician who understands all this will have an ever-better chance of winning the highest position in the country.