Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, made the day. In an interview with The Times at his office in the monumental marble-halled Foreign Ministry on the banks of the Tiber, Mr Frattini said:
"If we do not find a common foreign policy, there is the risk that Europe will become irrelevant. We will be bypassed by the G2 of America and China, which is to say the Pacific axis, and the Atlantic axis will be forgotten. We need political will and commitment, otherwise the people of Europe will be disillusioned and disappointed (...) It was a necessary objective to have a European army".
- I ask myself why politics in Russia, India and Brasil, who have even more cause for being threated or marginalized by strengthened China-US axis don't bother to think about more active cooperation in foreign politics and military sphere? Don't they see the changes in the world? Even Japan has changed its foreign politics radically last months...
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The Big Euro - Moguls are hungry for power!
ReplyDeleteI was expecting comment like this and I am sure that we will see much more in the future!
They only have to persuade the sheeple which is easy!
As Germany rises her profile every day more in EU they(Germany) might have desire to have military instrument at her disposition on EU level.
Will shadow of new enlarged Germany(confederation?) with EU robe
poush Russia even more towards her SCO alliance with China?
Everybody is watching USA or China but isn't Germany new Dark horse of the power game?
Hi Anon' and hi Igor!
ReplyDeleteMaybe China-USA axis is perceived as direct threat to EU because EU is the first world economy... Brasil, India and Russia do not perceive themselves as part of any union. These 3 powers, Russia being the biggest and a big power itself, play individually for their own reasons. But EU, as a continent and as a gathering of nations close to each other on the cutural and historic levels, perfectly know that its future can only be seen in the frame of a (more or less...) united group.
Anon', I don't understand why you talk about Germany distinctly from the European Union. Berlin, like Paris and London, is nothing alone. In terms of military and diplomatic might, France and UK have a better position. But no strong and pertinent action of the EU on the international stage is possible without, at least, the Berlin-Paris axis. Even if these two capitals are sometimes opposed because of their own interests. There is no way that Germany can be considered as a dark horse of the power game. Its sphere of influence is completely compatible and supplementary to the one of the other big EU nations.
I think that Russia will still keep its dual position between Europe and Asia... too many interests on these two fronts. India is a strong regional power and will propably been satisfied by sparkling in the Indian Ocean and its surroundings. Concerning Brasil, to my mind, it is the only power among these three nations which will be able to impulse a true regional project (a union) with its neighbors.
Dealing with Japan, I don't think its radical foreign policy evolution will give rise to a new huge military/diplomatic power in the Pacific. However, taking some distance with the US will allow Tokyo to better manage its integration into a likely political/economical Asian union, on the model of EU.
I think EU not only fears a monomaniac China-US axis, but also the Asian Union project strongly evoked during the last ASEAN Summit. Main issue for Bruxelles: the internal democratic crisis. European citizens do not recognize themselves when they look at European institutions. Matter of time, will and new democratic rules. EU needs a government and a capital but 'Bruxelles', as it is now, has to disappear.
It is a necessary objective to have a European army, right! But I don't thing that is the point that will make people of Europe more enthusiatic. First, EU has to make sound its voice, with a government and a pertinent democratic system. And more internal communication. THAT is the real challenge. Not the Army. The Army will appear naturally. It is only an instrument... but it misses a brain...
to Ju2:
ReplyDeleteCultural proximity is not enough for political coordination nor a necessary condition for it. We can see a very hard way of relationship between culturally close India and Pakistan, obstacles for re-unification of Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia where in fact the same ethnicity lives. Not to speak about 22 Arab countries which are indeed a monoculture monoreligeous civilization but unfortunately cannot go together when speaking about politics.
And Europe too I think still remember the continent of wars, no other people kill so many Europeans (and non-Europeans) as Europeans themselves. So, they try to go away from their traditional practice of religious wars, imperialistic battles and totalitarianism. Let's see if they succeed, but the common army can be a chance or a risk depending what will be the European politics in next 10-20 years.