Much talk has recently risen about
the US
seeking optional military configurations given the fact that NATO has grown
into a bulky and poorly manageable organisation. However, there is no other
foreseeable combination of countries that will form a military block that could
be manipulated to the benefit of the US better than the EU. Though EU
members constitute an extensive military block, they have always been reliant
on the US
for decision making. The best the coalition can do today, without the patronage
of the US,
is to keep its fellow members from involving themselves in a brotherly
tussle.
Though Russia
has always played the role of the bad guy, it has nonetheless been a
consolidating factor for Europe. Nothing could have been so impelling to help
merge the many diversely opposed interests of European countries into a common
military block than a "mortal enemy."
As things stand, it looks like
Russia will be granted the "honour" to proceed on with its "consolidating" role
as there is no notable volition on behalf of EU countries to relieve Russia of
its unifying function.
US antimissile systems in Europe and the
enlargement of NATO are just a few of the matters on which no consensus has
been reached among EU member states. This shows that there is no common security policy within the block and
block members are left free to act as they like. The rifts in the block provide the
US
administration a free hand in picking its allies while engaging itself in its
next endeavor and thus consigning further political chaos to EU foreign
matters.
Access to Russian energy resources has
caused dubiety within the EU and shows that it is just as difficult to reach
accord within the EU in economic matters. An example is the "North Stream" gas
pipeline heading for Germany which has become a bone of contention giving Germany
a prevailing position and making it Europe's central gas distributor. It seems the supremacy of Germany is what
many state members dread more than the shortage of energy resources.
In view of this, Russia has very little hope of reaching
an agreement on the Energy Charter with this poorly manageable conglomerate of
27 countries which allows any one of its member states to veto agreements.
There are no terms that Russia
would be ready to accept which would bring it in line with such a motley of
mutually exclusive sentiments. Democracy has its limits and is not the
framework that can unify and subordinate the inspirations of all. The EU is compelled to remain ineffective and
incapable while mistrust and suspicion remain dominating factors preventing any
headway in critical matters. Unfortunately, the EU has not grown to become a
factor determining world policy and there is little hope that it will ever grow
into anything more than an appendix to US foreign policy.
- 6
July 8, 2008
Ilyas M. Mohsin, PPP, Platinum Contributor (296)
There is little that EU can do while the world awaits the results of the US presidential race. I wonder if EU would be interested in wasting about $
600 million as was done by the G8, as per CNN, on a summit in Japan which has been a subject of unfriendly aspersions the world over.