Europe's State of Nirvana
Robert Kagan, Carnegie Endowment | June 27, 2008
The rejection of the Lisbon Treaty is symptomatic of the European perception of the union. ++ There is a steady loss of self-confidence and growth of pessimism about the union’s future. ++ Europeans also fear they will not be able to integrate immigrants and that the union will lose its shared values. ++ One explanation for Europe’s lack of leadership is that gaining more influence means acquiring greater responsibility within the international community. ++ In any case, the US hopes for a strong Europe rather than a strong Russia or China.
Sun, Jun 29th 2008, 13:03
ilyas m mohsin, ppp, Platinum Contributor (253)
The EU may be facing a stmbling block in the way of the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. It is the democratic right of the Irish to disagree. Such an arrangement is inbuilt within the rules of procedure. While one may feel irritated with the slow pace of developments on the progress of EU, writing it off as 'irrelevant' appears uncalled for.
Kagan appears to overlook the fact that EU is not one country but a number of countries who came together over the debris of the world war 11 to fight the Soviet Challange. These countries have had differences of ethos for centuries but some of them have been espousing the cause of democracy, genrally, since the French Revolution. So the basic differences in thinking won't disapear at the behest of US etc. The EU tends to coordinate with the US, generally, to maintain alliances and to face up to the objective conditions with these characteristics.
As the Soviet threat faded, there has been a loosening of conerns between partners. Things got aggravted since 9/11 but very few of the people in Europe approved of the way US Administartion handled the new situation. The falling graph of US goodwill/ power/ credibility proves that Europe, like many others, wasright.
Europe can't be written off as irrelevant because of its geography and culture despite its apparent weakness in defence-potentail vis-a-vis US etc. No wonder Russia and China are warming up to her. The Medvedev offensive is no gimmick. If successful, it can further erode US influence which has been portrayed by Kagan as make-believe. Such a development would be a setback for democratic countries as US faces a startegic crisis due to Afghanistan/ Iraq quagmires.