A very powerful and sobering final paragraph, although most of us had reached this conclusion some years ago. It is not ‘liberal democracy’ that will spread from Europe outwards (as was once widely believed), but illiberal savagery that will gradually collapse Europe and the UK as our politicians enthusiastically import it, wholesale, with no end in sight. This weekend’s events in Reading are just one example, with many, many more to come.
CS
Mark Corby
3 years ago
The total failure of the EU, as outlined by Basil Chamberlain below, has much to do with the abject selfishness of France. Even if it is impossible to form a ‘proper’ European Army due to France’s hereditary terror of Germany, then perhaps a European Navy? Spain, Italy, and France must be able to produce a Naval force capable of defending what used to be called “Mare Nostrum”. Those caught attempting to ‘invade’ Europe by sea must be returned whence they came, by force if necessary. Those European idiots who assist in this invasion must also be disciplined. If this works, we should them employ, the otherwise, redundant, and woke infested (Royal) Navy to do the same in the English Channel. It would improve recruiting enormously.
BC
Basil Chamberlain
3 years ago
Fascinating and disturbing article. It’s not of course surprising to find France and Turkey on opposing sides here; it’s more than a little worrying to find France and Italy dogged pursuing their own agendas.
“The EU, equally, had long hoped to be a new kind of superpower”; but one of the curious things about the EU is its resolute failure to craft some kind of common foreign policy, surely a prerequisite for any kind of superpower status. The observation above about rapprochement between France and Russia is significant evidence for this – this is merely a reversion to traditional French self-interest. France traditionally pursued an alliance with Russia because the Russians were too far away to menace France itself. But it’s obviously not self-evident that an EU stretching as far east as Vilnius can logically support a pro-Russian foreign policy… not, at least, unless there were some way of actually bringing Russia inside the club.
The EU even failed, when the euro was introduced, to take significant steps to promote it as an alternative reserve currency to the dollar, for instance by encouraging oil-rich nations (many of which are not friendly to the United States) to demand payment in euros rather than dollars. This, unlike most other aspects of the deeply problematic monetary union, would self-evidently have been in Europe’s interests… and it would, also incidentally, would have been a tangible manifestation of “soft power”, so perhaps the EU is deficient in that as well as the “hard” variety.
I reached the conclusion some time ago that if the EU collapses it will do so not necessarily because its objectives are illegitimate or unachievable. Instead, if it collapses it will do so because for a long time now it has been run by fools, mostly very unpleasant fools.
And, ultimately, the lack of democracy within the EU’s structures and processes may be a weakness. These people have been able to act without any heed to the wishes of normal people. As well as making normal people angry, this is also liable to lead to bad decisions because it enables the worst kind of arrogant incompetents to come to power.
Had meaningful democracy been integrated in to the EU\s structures as it evolved. normal people might have been more likely to get onboard, and better decisions might have been taken.
An excellent summary of the failures the EU. Your mention of France’s historic alliance with Russia, omitted to mention that the raison d’être for such a policy was that Russia posed a mortal threat to Germany, France’s nemesis ever since 1870. We/Europe have had to pay an enormous price to achieve revenge for Sedan.
AS
A Spetzari
3 years ago
Good article.
I would go further on the final paragraph. The EU/European nations are as guilty and naive as the US has been in the past – expecting democracy, prosperity and order to spread purely because people have been seduced by it.
However the US at least has always backed its words up with Teddy’s big stick. Europe tries to act the hard man in a region overflowing with them, but has no clout.
France has taken an admirable lead in recent years – even under more ‘progressive’ and left wing leaders (Hollande, Macron). Britain, with perennial weak leadership has had governments that merely chase the political football about to little or no effect, too often caught up in domestic and other issues. That doesn’t look to change any time soon given the political lightweights we currently have in the house.
Other European nations are barely worth mentioning – to be blunt – given their capability.
Germany however is virtually non-existent as a hard power, with understandable historical reasons. It is now one of the most stable countries in the world, with exceptionally high standards of living, and its economy inextricably attached to that of its neighbours. Is it not time that the world’s 4th largest economy took more of a role in contributing to the relative global security we currently enjoy? Before that ship sails.
DB
David Bell
3 years ago
Europe (the continent) and the Mediterranean area of Africa have been a region of conflict for thousands of years. After WW2 this area had a period of peace due to the exhaustion and devastation caused by that war and the ongoing “cold war” between USA and USSR, with only a few hot conflicts eg Israel and Cyprus. Somewhere around the early 1990’s several wars started eg the former Yugoslavia. The number of conflicts have gradually escalated and we are seeing a rising tide of war and tension through out a number of zones in the region.
The EEC/EU did not bring peace to Europe, it only had the good fortune to exist during a time of peace. It is uniquely illequipped to deal with the problems facing the whole region over the next 10 years not least because of it’s own arrogance and inflexibility. A new European conflict is brewing and none of our politicians seem to know how to put the fire out!
Agreed – the European Union is a symptom of peace in Europe, not the other way round.
Though it must also be said that economic cooperation and unity makes conflict less likely too, certainly once peace was secured post 1945.
But the two key drivers for creating the peace were nothing whatsoever to do with EU: namely the existence of a potential hostile neighbour for c.45 years (USSR) and the thousands of NATO (mainly US) troops in the continent in deterrence of the Cold War becoming ‘hot’.
Should also add the billions of Marshall Plan dollars that rebuilt a large part of the continent
MT
Μαργαρίτα Τάντση
3 years ago
We are heading towards the post-NATO era. It’s time Europe to grow up and take over the responsibility of defending alliance’s interests not relying in US. The imminent conflicts involve cultural features, hence, we cannot band together with powers that don’t share them with us just because it is US’s will. It is essential US to remain our greatest ally but we, Europeans, have to prepare for the contingency to fight alone against NATO allies.
DA
aa
3 years ago
“Turkish threats to send drill ships into Greek and Cypriot waters…..”
Greece has no waters in the eastern Mediterranean beyond 3 miles of Crete, Karpathos and Rhodes.
A very powerful and sobering final paragraph, although most of us had reached this conclusion some years ago. It is not ‘liberal democracy’ that will spread from Europe outwards (as was once widely believed), but illiberal savagery that will gradually collapse Europe and the UK as our politicians enthusiastically import it, wholesale, with no end in sight. This weekend’s events in Reading are just one example, with many, many more to come.
The total failure of the EU, as outlined by Basil Chamberlain below, has much to do with the abject selfishness of France. Even if it is impossible to form a ‘proper’ European Army due to France’s hereditary terror of Germany, then perhaps a European Navy?
Spain, Italy, and France must be able to produce a Naval force capable of defending what used to be called “Mare Nostrum”.
Those caught attempting to ‘invade’ Europe by sea must be returned whence they came, by force if necessary. Those European idiots who assist in this invasion must also be disciplined.
If this works, we should them employ, the otherwise, redundant, and woke infested (Royal) Navy to do the same in the English Channel. It would improve recruiting enormously.
Fascinating and disturbing article. It’s not of course surprising to find France and Turkey on opposing sides here; it’s more than a little worrying to find France and Italy dogged pursuing their own agendas.
“The EU, equally, had long hoped to be a new kind of superpower”; but one of the curious things about the EU is its resolute failure to craft some kind of common foreign policy, surely a prerequisite for any kind of superpower status. The observation above about rapprochement between France and Russia is significant evidence for this – this is merely a reversion to traditional French self-interest. France traditionally pursued an alliance with Russia because the Russians were too far away to menace France itself. But it’s obviously not self-evident that an EU stretching as far east as Vilnius can logically support a pro-Russian foreign policy… not, at least, unless there were some way of actually bringing Russia inside the club.
The EU even failed, when the euro was introduced, to take significant steps to promote it as an alternative reserve currency to the dollar, for instance by encouraging oil-rich nations (many of which are not friendly to the United States) to demand payment in euros rather than dollars. This, unlike most other aspects of the deeply problematic monetary union, would self-evidently have been in Europe’s interests… and it would, also incidentally, would have been a tangible manifestation of “soft power”, so perhaps the EU is deficient in that as well as the “hard” variety.
I reached the conclusion some time ago that if the EU collapses it will do so not necessarily because its objectives are illegitimate or unachievable. Instead, if it collapses it will do so because for a long time now it has been run by fools, mostly very unpleasant fools.
And, ultimately, the lack of democracy within the EU’s structures and processes may be a weakness. These people have been able to act without any heed to the wishes of normal people. As well as making normal people angry, this is also liable to lead to bad decisions because it enables the worst kind of arrogant incompetents to come to power.
Had meaningful democracy been integrated in to the EU\s structures as it evolved. normal people might have been more likely to get onboard, and better decisions might have been taken.
An excellent summary of the failures
the EU.
Your mention of France’s historic alliance with Russia, omitted to mention that the raison d’être for such a policy was that Russia posed a mortal threat to Germany, France’s nemesis ever since 1870.
We/Europe have had to pay an enormous price to achieve revenge for Sedan.
Good article.
I would go further on the final paragraph. The EU/European nations are as guilty and naive as the US has been in the past – expecting democracy, prosperity and order to spread purely because people have been seduced by it.
However the US at least has always backed its words up with Teddy’s big stick. Europe tries to act the hard man in a region overflowing with them, but has no clout.
France has taken an admirable lead in recent years – even under more ‘progressive’ and left wing leaders (Hollande, Macron). Britain, with perennial weak leadership has had governments that merely chase the political football about to little or no effect, too often caught up in domestic and other issues. That doesn’t look to change any time soon given the political lightweights we currently have in the house.
Other European nations are barely worth mentioning – to be blunt – given their capability.
Germany however is virtually non-existent as a hard power, with understandable historical reasons. It is now one of the most stable countries in the world, with exceptionally high standards of living, and its economy inextricably attached to that of its neighbours. Is it not time that the world’s 4th largest economy took more of a role in contributing to the relative global security we currently enjoy? Before that ship sails.
Europe (the continent) and the Mediterranean area of Africa have been a region of conflict for thousands of years. After WW2 this area had a period of peace due to the exhaustion and devastation caused by that war and the ongoing “cold war” between USA and USSR, with only a few hot conflicts eg Israel and Cyprus. Somewhere around the early 1990’s several wars started eg the former Yugoslavia. The number of conflicts have gradually escalated and we are seeing a rising tide of war and tension through out a number of zones in the region.
The EEC/EU did not bring peace to Europe, it only had the good fortune to exist during a time of peace. It is uniquely illequipped to deal with the problems facing the whole region over the next 10 years not least because of it’s own arrogance and inflexibility. A new European conflict is brewing and none of our politicians seem to know how to put the fire out!
Agreed – the European Union is a symptom of peace in Europe, not the other way round.
Though it must also be said that economic cooperation and unity makes conflict less likely too, certainly once peace was secured post 1945.
But the two key drivers for creating the peace were nothing whatsoever to do with EU: namely the existence of a potential hostile neighbour for c.45 years (USSR) and the thousands of NATO (mainly US) troops in the continent in deterrence of the Cold War becoming ‘hot’.
Should also add the billions of Marshall Plan dollars that rebuilt a large part of the continent
We are heading towards the post-NATO era. It’s time Europe to grow up and take over the responsibility of defending alliance’s interests not relying in US. The imminent conflicts involve cultural features, hence, we cannot band together with powers that don’t share them with us just because it is US’s will. It is essential US to remain our greatest ally but we, Europeans, have to prepare for the contingency to fight alone against NATO allies.
“Turkish threats to send drill ships into Greek and Cypriot waters…..”
Greece has no waters in the eastern Mediterranean beyond 3 miles of Crete, Karpathos and Rhodes.
You’ll find that this isn’t true.
If you can not map read… or unless you promote Enosis…
Either way Turkey rightfully will have the final say!
Deleted
Nah, we’ll fix them before they do, just wait and see.