LONDON — On the surface, the forces of European diplomacy responded vigorously Tuesday to the challenge presented by the eruption of conflict in the Caucasus.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who wants to reassert French and European influence while holding the presidency of the European Union, zoomed off to Moscow and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on the heels of a war-zone trip by his equally energetic foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner.
By the end of the day, Russian and Georgian leaders had agreed to a cease-fire. Meanwhile, other European leaders held busy consultations with one another and Russian and American counterparts.
But in reality, the crisis in the former Soviet republic of Georgia exposes the problems and limitations afflicting Europe, particularly the dream of a strong European Union playing a key role on the world stage, analysts say.
The European reaction has in some ways evoked the familiar stereotypes: The EU is rich but bureaucratic, sophisticated but timid, big but profoundly divided between the aging powers of the West and impatient newcomers of the East.
Its main weapon when dealing with Moscow, analysts say, is soft power. Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other leaders who have developed good relationships with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin can present themselves as alternatives to, and intermediaries for, Washington.
"The EU has as yet quite a weak foreign policy, and the EU as a union hasn't been very much in evidence," said Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Center for European Reform think tank in London. "The Europeans . . . are taken less seriously by the Russians, but on the other hand they are better placed for any kind of intermediary role because the Americans are obviously on the side of the Georgians.
"A lot of the European member states are seen as less biased against Russia," she said, "and that's why you see those countries that have good links and have been less critical of Russia are very much in action."
Nonetheless, Russia has shown occasional disdain for its neighbors to the west and the niceties of their democratic processes. Though Britain is arguably the strongest power in the EU, its relations with Moscow have been chilly since the 2006 assassination in London of a former KGB agent turned Russian dissident who died of radioactive poisoning. The suspected killer, also an ex-KGB agent, was elected in December to the Russian parliament despite a British extradition request.
