Here. I agree. I will be discussing this question as it relates to France at a conference in Syracuse at the Maxwell School Center for European Studies tomorrow and Saturday. Limited blogging until I get back.
3 comments:
bernard
said...
What they are saying is correct, but it is nothing new.
One assumption, implicit in the article, is that European countries are "operating" in a sort of international relations vacuum. But it is not. I think we need to look at Europe’s evolution in a more holistic way, embedding it in a larger context, a "géopolitique" context, to use the French term for what I mean has to do especially with geography and Europe's immediate neighborhood. To the east, Russia and Turkey; to the south the Maghreb/Machrek/Levant. The events in these regions & countries impact Europe. Weaker and vulnerable entities get pushed around - European powers should know this after having practiced it for a few hundred years.
Thus, in terms of the forces pushing European countries to further unity, I think there will be more reasons than simply trying to compete with economic rivals in India, China & the USA. The resistance to centralizing fiscal and military (already “out-sourced” to NATO) powers will be conditioned by events outside of Europe, too.
3 comments:
What they are saying is correct, but it is nothing new.
One assumption, implicit in the article, is that European countries are "operating" in a sort of international relations vacuum. But it is not.
I think we need to look at Europe’s evolution in a more holistic way, embedding it in a larger context, a "géopolitique" context, to use the French term for what I mean has to do especially with geography and Europe's immediate neighborhood. To the east, Russia and Turkey; to the south the Maghreb/Machrek/Levant. The events in these regions & countries impact Europe. Weaker and vulnerable entities get pushed around - European powers should know this after having practiced it for a few hundred years.
Thus, in terms of the forces pushing European countries to further unity, I think there will be more reasons than simply trying to compete with economic rivals in India, China & the USA. The resistance to centralizing fiscal and military (already “out-sourced” to NATO) powers will be conditioned by events outside of Europe, too.
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