Considering the latest economic news from the US, one would think that it’s days as the Planet’s only Superpower has long gone. Over 9 Million people out of work, 1 in 10 residential properties either in foreclosure, or under water, so far in debt that it is only a mater of time until they are bankrupt, and a loss of respect from the rest of the World. But if we have become used to having one or two major powers that treat the World as their own marketplace, or a field where they can impose their own political ideas, where can we look for leadership? Surprisingly, the European Union isn’t that power. Why?
One would think that the Herculean tasks of pulling together 27 different countries into one economic union, and finding common ground among different countries, currencies, political ideas, languages, and small scale territorial wars, that the hard work was already done. Considering NATO is losing it’s standing as a global peace keeping force, and NAFTA is only working on paper, isn’t it a surprise that we don’t here more about The United States of Europe? The union has more money, and more people than the US, and a longer, more rounded history of waging war and making peace, but the area is still looked at as a collection of ‘states’, rather than one body outside of the everyday economic one.
Even though political and economic decisions are made in Brussels, it is still difficult for the U.S.’s current customers to find a way there, and sit down with someone to discuss trade and employment. Surprisingly, it is simply because there is always more than one person to talk to, not ‘The President’ that would give a cohesive picture of unity that The States already have.
Considering that the Union has spent over half a century talking about (and for the most part succeeding at) bringing everyone together under one all encompassing political and economic system, why is it so difficult to take the one final step and put a parliament and a leader in pace to conduct business through. European nations have tried to bring the continent together before, and have failed: Napoleon and Hitler tried to bring a single old idea to countries, but it is Europe’s collection of differences have always fought against Tyranny, even if it was to bring democracy to those tyrannies. It appears that the thing keeping the Union together is the awareness of those differences among it’s membership. How can Europeans keep that passion about their own country, and transfer it to a Nation less Union? Even if they have gotten rid of many of the borders that split the continent up, they still require celebrating their differences.
Perhaps this is the next model of a Superpower. No longer one-country exporting their own ideals on everyone else, but a business-only loose union of nations working together to solve it’s own problems? Would such a model be any good to the rest of the world? Surely if a country ants to do business with this Super Market, they would have to run their own country a certain way? Perhaps the union will keep on growing outside of Europe: Romania and Turkey are next perhaps the Middle-East is next?
Perhaps it is not Europe that is missing, it is up to us to look at Super Powers as completely different than the model we have become used to.
Recent Comments