A good way to measure how far apart the Americans (particularly the current administration) and the Europeans are these days is by reading Helmut Schmidt’s “twelve questions for the candidates” in the current Atlantic Times. The former German chancellor simply wants to know where the contenders stand on issues like Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and the environment. Schmidt rightly calls some of the candidates’ positions “nebulous” and predictably so during an election year.

But then there are those few questions posed in such a way that we know precisely where Schmidt and his cohorts stand. Here are a few:

“Since a quarter of the world’s states are Islamic, would you fight for religious and cultural tolerance and work against a clash of civilizations with Islam?” I guess Schmidt never met Karen Hughes. But seriously, I hope Herr Kanzler isn’t suggesting allowing sharia law to be practiced on German soil. Is he?

“Do you agree that, besides the Middle East, ‘Russia is the other great challenge for global security’ (Zbigniew Brzezinski)? Or do you share our view that, since Gorbachev, Russia has never violated its borders militarily and is acting more peacefully now than at any time in its Tsarist and Communist history?” Our view? That must mean not only Schmidt but Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schröder. As for “acting more peacefully now than at any time in its Tsarist and Communist history,” well, that would be pretty hard to top.

“Do you accept the global political and economic role of China? Will you finally invite China to the G-8 and other global summits?” Indeed, doing so will encourage a liberalization of China’s markets leading to greater economic freedom leading to greater political freedom. But this has already been achieved by the Olympics.