The European Union May Be on the Verge of Collapse

[newthinking]

The European Union May Be on the Verge of Collapse

The complex federal project of the EU has proven fragile in the absence of a strong external threat.
John Feffer
January 27, 2015


(Shutterstock)

Europe won the Cold War.

Not long after the Berlin Wall fell a quarter of a century ago, the Soviet Union collapsed, the United States squandered its peace dividend in an attempt to maintain global dominance and Europe quietly became more prosperous, more integrated and more of a player in international affairs. Between 1989 and 2014, the European Union (EU) practically doubled its membership and catapulted into third place in population behind China and India. It currently boasts the world’s largest economy and also heads the list of global trading powers. In 2012, the EU won the Nobel Peace Prize for transforming Europe “from a continent of war to a continent of peace.”

In the competition for “world’s true superpower,” China loses points for still having so many impoverished peasants in its rural hinterlands and a corrupt, illiberal bureaucracy in its cities; the United States, for its crumbling infrastructure and a hypertrophied military-industrial complex that threatens to bankrupt the economy. As the only equitably prosperous, politically sound and rule-of-law-respecting superpower, Europe comes out on top, even if—or perhaps because—it doesn’t have the military muscle to play global policeman.

And yet, for all this success, the European project is currently teetering on the edge of failure. Growth is anemic at best and socio-economic inequality is on the rise. The countries of Eastern and Central Europe, even relatively successful Poland, have failed to bridge the income gap with the richer half of the continent. And the highly indebted periphery is in revolt.

http://www.thenation.com/article/196193/european-union-may-be-verge-collapse

[pampango]

1. If it happens the far-right will celebrate a dream come true. There is nothing that motivates them

like the destruction of the EU which will facilitate the return of old-fashioned national sovereignty that they treasure so much. They'll be able to put up border controls and tariffs against each other. Soon the good ol' days of competing nationalisms will be back in fashion.

[enlightenment]

2. The idea of competing nationalisms

has never gone out of fashion, EU or not. Nor will it. Humans have to "other" - it seems to be encoded in the DNA.

[pampango]

4. I think nationalism is much tamer in Europe now than it was early in the 20th century.

Most Europeans like being able to travel, work and trade anywhere else in Europe that they want.

The French still love being French and the Germans still love being German but the animosity is much reduced over what it used to be.

[LanternWaste]

8. Nor has the idea of cooperating nations ever gone out of style...

Nor has the idea of cooperating nations ever gone out of style... it too, seems to be part and parcel of human nature.

[enlightenment]

15. True.

We're a complex animal.

[newthinking]

3. The International Republican Institute's activity in Europe goes under the radar

Even here.

This includes front and center in Ukraine.

Where did this right wing rise, austerity, etc, come from and relatively quickly? While we have been sleeping the neo-cons (with the help of the neo-liberals at times) have been way ahead of the left's notice.

[sabrina 1]

10. If it happens, it will be the fault of the Oligarchs who turned once sovereign nations, like Greece

and Ireland, Spain and Portugal into Second World and even Third World nations, dependent on the IMF/World Bank by allowing Wall St, Goldman Sachs especially, Oligarchs to take over the economies of these countries impoverishing and disappearing the Working Class destroying their Social Safety Nets while making off with the resources of their nations.

Of course the same thing happened for decades in South America. See Argentina.

If the EU wants to survive, they have to dump the Wall St bankers from their midst. They need to support Greece now in taking back their sovereignty and start going after the crooked politicians and bankers who crashed the WORLD's economies and scooped up even more from the debris they left behind while not being held accountable.

Hopefully now Greece will follow Iceland's example and arrest and prosecute those responsible for the disastrous policies that robbed them of their sovereignty (installing a former Goldman Sachs guy, toppling the elected leader, in Greece in one example of why the EU is crumbling)

Seems once there is a successful power structure anywhere, or large fund for the benefit of the people, 'Social Programs', Wall St moves in with its IMF/World Bank to permanently indebt the people while grabbing the power and funds for themselves.

As someone called what happened in Europe and here and elsewhere 'The Global Coup D'Etat by Goldman Sachs'.

The word in Europe for these corrupt players in the demise of the economies of all these nations is 'Technocrats'. It's a very bad word to the Working Class at this point.

[pampango]

11. The far-right does prosper when oligarchs create economic chaos. It happened in the 1930's and

it is happening today. The far-right has hated the EU for decades but it made little electoral progress until the Bush-inspired Great Recession and the terrible austerity policy that the EU reacted to it with.

[sabrina 1]

13. I agree, the Far Right hates anything that benefits the people or gives them enough power to

marginalize the crazies in societies such as themselves.

But they are not the only ones who hate anything that fairly distributes a nation's wealth.

The EU has been taken over by such people. First thing they attack, ALWAYS, are Social Safety Nets.

The Far Right and Economic Predators are natural allies.

Greece has now started the ball rolling in turning back the policies of those predators and if the EU is not totally compromised at this point, they will support Greece in retaking their country and in going after those predators.

The Far Right cannot gain a foothold in nations that have fair economic systems.

[jwirr]

5. Question: Is the creation of EU Union on the same level as a trade agreement like NAFTA? What

effect did it have then? How do they ideas compare?

[pampango]

14. The European Economic Community was created in 1957. It was more like NAFTA with the added feature

of common external tariffs to go with an internal free trade area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community

[FLPanhandle]

6. The EU isn't going anywhere

However, they got too aggressive with bringing countries in.

Greece, Spain, and Italy were added for political reasons but never fit economically.

Iceland recently withdrew their EU application as the negatives outweigh the benefits.

I suspect the EU needs to cast off a few and retrench with the prime northern European countries.

[pampango]

9. I believe the government in Iceland has tried to withdraw its application to join the EU but

voters voided the first withdrawal attempt by referendum and are contesting the most recent one.

[Sunlei]

7. disagree, I follow their news for years. EU is doing great, check your country in the drop down menu

check every country mentioned in the article in the drop down menu.

EUROPEAN UNION English-

http://europa.eu/index_en.htm

[Manifestor_of_Light]

12. didn't they have the Common Market in Europe in the sixties?

That was supposed to be the same idea, a collective uniformity in trade or whatever?