The Daily Star -- Europe is weak and it may be disappointed, whoever wins the US election - by Joschka Fischer

Where is the beef?

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Europe is weak and it may be disappointed, whoever wins the US election - by by Joschka Fischer

"The world sees the EU as a model that has successfully linked economic success with social equality. But today's Europe is a contradiction. It is a land of peace, democracy, and the rule of law. It is also a land of prosperity with a competitive economy, strong currency, low inflation, and standards of living that are among the highest in the world. Europeans benefit from very high levels of social protection and inexpensive, high-quality education, strict environmental standards, and excellent infrastructure. In addition, Europe has unmatched cultural diversity and great natural beauty.

But politically, Europe is a dwarf — and shrinking. Ours is a century of large states and the further rise of China, India, the US, and Japan will soon make the largest European powers look puny. Even today, the three largest EU members barely manage to offset Europe's loss of political weight, much less stem the tide. Without a strong EU, this development will only intensify.

It is because the EU lacks unity on key issues. How can it expect to solve the problems of the world if it cannot solve its own problem of disunity? The 27 member EU is powerful and more affluent than Russia but it does not address the current disputes with Russia in one voice. Some EU governments want a stern attitude to be taken towards Russia over energy and human rights issues. Others want to look the other way in the interest of commercial gains. This despite Russia's recent threat to use nuclear might to protect its security. Russia is nervous over the EU's expansion to its borders.

The EU cannot agree over Kosovo, a very serious trouble spot along with Turkey. Slovakia, Romania, Spain and Greece harbor reservations about Kosovo's independence,while some member countries will not hear of EU membership for Turkey. Others warn against the danger of rebuffing Turkey - it could push the country, which sits on huge reserves of natural gas, into the waiting arms of Iran and Russia.

Note EU-Digest: Joschka Fischer has certainly hit the "nail on the head". Unfortunately Europe at this point in time is a "clay tiger". All that needs to happen is for some rain to fall on our precious experiment in the form of a Russian energy blackmail, disunity on Kosovo, a conflict with Iran, or failure on developing a common policy on the placement of US missiles in Europe, and the "EU clay tiger" could dissolve again into the mud cesspool of bickering nations we used to be. At times we have been critical of US policies and politics, but when it comes to rallying around common causes or showing some patriotism on issues of importance to guarantee a better future for our children, the US beats us Europeans hands down.