Post by AztecWilliam on Apr 28, 2010 10:31:05 GMT -8
Europe finds itself in a double bind. First, the looming economic failure of the PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) and one or two other countries threatens the essential purpose of creating the European Union in the first place. And, second, the EU is facing serious challenges in the field of international relations.
What does this mean for us? Well, . . .
. . . bad news for the EU is bad news for us too. Irritating as a strong EU can be, a weak and divided Europe is much worse.
The economic trouble comes from the divide between the more sensible and prudent northern economies (Germany, Norway, etc.), and the profligate southerners (the PIGS). The latter have used low interest rate loans to boost social programs that in the long run are not sustainable. The northerners are reluctant to bail out the spendthrifts . . .
Why, Germans ask with some force and logic, should German taxpayers who cannot retire until their late sixties pay the bill so that Greeks can retire at 55?
. . . Bitter squabbling between a newly impoverished south and a self-righteous, angry north would consume European politics and undermine the EU’s ability to get anything done.
The second crisis is in the field of international relations, as seen in Ukraine and Turkey . . .
For many years now, the EU has been counting on its ‘power of attraction’ to make its neighborhood a safer and more democratic place. With Ukraine now slithering the other way and Turkey also moving toward the east, the EU seems to be losing that power just when it is most needed.
We might want to gloat when Europe, whose leaders are eager to criticize us, gets its collective ass in a sling. But if there is serious trouble over there, it may well spill over onto our side of the Atlantic.
blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/04/27/europe-in-crisis/
AzWm
What does this mean for us? Well, . . .
. . . bad news for the EU is bad news for us too. Irritating as a strong EU can be, a weak and divided Europe is much worse.
The economic trouble comes from the divide between the more sensible and prudent northern economies (Germany, Norway, etc.), and the profligate southerners (the PIGS). The latter have used low interest rate loans to boost social programs that in the long run are not sustainable. The northerners are reluctant to bail out the spendthrifts . . .
Why, Germans ask with some force and logic, should German taxpayers who cannot retire until their late sixties pay the bill so that Greeks can retire at 55?
. . . Bitter squabbling between a newly impoverished south and a self-righteous, angry north would consume European politics and undermine the EU’s ability to get anything done.
The second crisis is in the field of international relations, as seen in Ukraine and Turkey . . .
For many years now, the EU has been counting on its ‘power of attraction’ to make its neighborhood a safer and more democratic place. With Ukraine now slithering the other way and Turkey also moving toward the east, the EU seems to be losing that power just when it is most needed.
We might want to gloat when Europe, whose leaders are eager to criticize us, gets its collective ass in a sling. But if there is serious trouble over there, it may well spill over onto our side of the Atlantic.
blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2010/04/27/europe-in-crisis/
AzWm
