Wednesday, January 16, 2008

UNION Of US and Europe?

UNION Of US and Europe?

Start of a beautiful friendship?

A union of Europe and America might stand up to China, but how realistic is it, asks Phillip Blond

For the first time in several hundred years the West is on the losing side of history. This is the thesis of Edouard Balladur, the former French Prime Minister who in a recent essay argues that "history is starting to be made without the West and perhaps one day it will be made against it".

The 78-year-old statesman believes that Western values are so threatened that the only way to defend global democracy and the rule of law is for the US and the EU to consider a real political, economic and cultural union.

Like many he fears that the West is in cultural decline and unable to face the challenges that confront it. America and Europe, economically stagnant and unable to innovate and prosper in the face of Chinese and Indian economic success, face new shared dangers in Islamic fundamentalism, and the rise of hostile independent states such as Iran and Russia.

For Balladur, the West must undergo a revolution in thinking and come together and defend its common values in the face of unprecedented global threats.

This is more than the delightful delusions of an aloof French aristocrat. These ideas are taken seriously at the highest level. Nicolas Sarkozy is certainly listening: the current President of France, a close confidante and political ally of Balladur, is intrigued by the prospect of a renewed Western project with France at its centre.

Moreover, the British elite have long been seduced by the idea of a transatlantic free-trade pact. While Angela Merkel, the German PM, wants to extend the traditional trans-Atlantic military alliance into new cultural and economic agreements based around common values and beliefs.

Looking at it objectively, Balladur expresses unmistakable geo-political truths. The age of Western dominance is clearly over. America may still be a superpower but within a generation it will be equalled by other nations both economically and militarily. Similarly Europe may delight in its own expansion, but national governments and shallow self-interest still call the tune. As such, Europe's soft power is never really taken seriously by its adversaries: Russia, for instance, derides the EU and sidelines it diplomatically and economically.

Thus the reasoning goes that Europe needs the hard power of American military might. Moreover, America now recognises its limits; it knows it can no longer risk unilateral military action. The US needs the soft power of persuasion and the many friends that the EU represents.

And there I think this little daydream should end. There is no real chance of a Western Union because an alliance implies an equality of partners. The Europeans may well be prepared to pool sovereignty in the name of common values - but the Americans certainly aren't.

America, despite its vision and idealism, remains a deeply nationalist and supremacist nation - and such countries do not and cannot form a union of equals. The only real alliance the US has is with Britain and Israel. Because the former is painfully subservient and the latter utterly dependent, neither offers a model for a common Western future.

That said, there is a real common Western heritage that is worth defending - one that upholds the idea of the dignity of the person and the belief that power and wealth are not the ultimate values. This is the legacy of Plato and Aristotle, the Jewish prophets, Christianity and the Renaissance. It lies also in the enlightenment's refusal of absolute authority and the struggle by ordinary people to shape their lives and gain a just share of wealth and happiness.

However, these great Western achievements were attained by a high civilisation - whereas Europe and America are now at a cultural low, obsessed with consumerism and celebrity.

If Sarkozy (left) can help revive a high European culture, and a new American President can restore a genuinely liberating American vision, then there might, just might, be a union of the West worth pursuing after all.
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Hitler's Germany wanted collaboration with the Anglo-Saxons and was rightly rebuffed; Franz Josef Strauss promoted his "grand design" for the US and Europe, and died without seeing it realized; Otto von Habsburg invokes Charlemagne (Karl der Grosse) as the only hope for Europe's future within The Social Order of Tomorrow and it is echoed by the Vatican who has never lost the dream of reviving the "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation." Such a politico-religious dream will soon become the world's worst nightmare, turning on those who oppose its German-Jesuit dominated EU with a vengeance, promoting itself as the only hope for world peace while preparing to ignite WWIII.

Germany Behind the Mask

Is Germany in Danger of Backsliding?

Death to the American, British and Jewish Peoples?

EU to Conquer Anglo-Saxons and Jews

Germany's Fourth Reich Spreads Its Wings Over the World

2 comments:

Kyle said...

“America, despite its vision and idealism, remains a deeply nationalist and supremacist nation - and such countries do not and cannot form a union of equals”

 I imagine people would have said the same thing about the European countries immediately after WWII. Yet countries who of varying size demographically, militarily, and economically, and personality-wise came together to create a union. There certainly remain internal power struggles, but the system works. The process was gradual, beginning with a trade union.

We may yet see the same thing from the Atlantic Allies, who have actually gone farther than Europe with regards to building a military union in NATO (it can be argued that defense is the last vestige of sovereignty a state is willing to give up). There is now a serious effort to create a Transatlantic Trade Union as well, endorsed at the highest levels of govenrnment on both sides of the Atlantic.

It is certainly more of a fantasy than reality that a glorious Union of the West will be created in the immediate future, but I do not rule it out.

I recently posted an article about the Balladur essay here: www.atlanticreview.org

(you may be interested in the comments)

Leo said...

"The EU-US Merger Project"

The "timely" solution that i propose (i.e. my very own personal contribution to humanity) to solving many if not ALL of the worlds major problems including war, corruption, global warning, poverty... lies in what i call the "ultimate power move," merging the 2 most powerful governments on the planet, the EU & the US. Precipitaing or more accurately quickening the "already-in-motion" Global Unification & Integration process, to make life easier & better for everyone on the planet, is the overall goal (which includes saving humanity from complete annihilation & destruction of course). Merging the EU with the US will obviously "check" all aberrant countries/nations (North Korea, Syria, Iran...) from doing things they shouldn't otherwise be doing, included in the mix of being checked will be the US & the EU of course. After merging the EU & the US other countries can then be "systematically integrated" as well if they so choose. The "button-up" approach of the "North American Union," that is the US merging with Canada & Mexico, is childs play & essentally "less relevant" compared to the "top-down" approach of an EU-US Merger. The one VERY important caveat/requirement to having a "fully united & fully integrated planet" is having the "right people" on top, unenlightened half-wits will not only "not do" but they will worsen the already f---ed up & despicable condition of humanity & planet earth which obvioulsy is a no no. So those impressed with and interested in bankrolling and/or contributing in other ways (i.e. ideas, media attention...) to my Global Venture you may contact me on my myspace. Thanks, Leo (a.k.a. "The Good Borg")

myspace.com/theeuusmergerproject