Brussels blog

Obama shakes hands with Treasury chief Geithner after his State of the Union address.

The news overnight focused on President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address. For the Brussels crowd, the most interesting thing in the speech may have been what was not in the speech: Europe.

Despite the ongoing eurozone crisis, and the increasingly deep involvement of senior US officials like Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner in crisis management, Obama did not mention Europe’s economic problems once. In fact, his only reference to the continent at all was a line that military alliances in Europe (and Asia) were “as strong as ever”, and putting “Berlin” in a list of global capitals where governments are “eager to work with us”.

Obama’s Republican adversaries have not done much more than that in their frequent televised debates, despite growing concern in Washington that a crisis-induced collapse of Europe’s economy could have a severe impact on the US economy in the midst of this year’s presidential campaign.

Some US officials Brussels Blog has talked to said there is a growing debate within Obama’s team about how to deal with Europe politically. Some political advisors are urging him to openly criticise European leaders now as a way to inoculate himself in case the crisis leads to a US recession in the middle of a election year. Take them to task now, the argument goes, so you can say “I told you so” when the event comes to pass.

But thus far, the economic policy team, headed by Geithner, has prevailed, arguing that such rhetorical broadsides would be counterproductive, since it would reduce American influence in a debate that is becoming increasingly global and likely to dominate next month’s G-20 finance ministers’ meeting in Mexico.

If last night’s State of the Union is any indication, Obama has chosen to keep on the “speak softly and carry a big stick” path – for now.