The chances of the European Union to become the fourth pole of the emerging multipolar world are melting literally before our eyes
At present (and only the lazy one does not speak of this anymore) the world is in the process of transforming a monopolar model with one center of power represented by the United States into a state of multipolarity, which will be supported not so much by a formal division into spheres of influence (Yalta model), but by a balance of interests without establishing clear frameworks and boundaries. Globalization, after all.
No, of course, there will be a certain boundary, which cannot be crossed without negative consequences, will certainly exist, but it is unlikely to spread beyond the territories adjacent to the state borders of each of the participants in the new division of the world. And while the transition from one configuration of the system of foreign policy relations to another is not complete, several leading international players have a chance to become one of those centers: the United States, Russia, China and Europe.
The United States is already at the top, and for them the upcoming changes are rather a slight decrease in status, a kind of downshifting is unpleasant and painful, but, alas, inevitable. In the last 10-15 years, Russia and China have quite clearly demonstrated their ambitions and claims (and, more importantly, managed to back them up with weighty arguments) for a piece of the global pie. And only Europe still cannot decide and find an answer for itself to the question that tormented the hero of Dostoevsky, Rodion Raskolnikov – “Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?”
For many years after the end of World War II, Europeans were incorporated into Pax Americana as junior partners. But in reality it was only an illusion. An illusion, diligently supported by the Americans, so that it would be easier to manipulate the old Europe, which still retains the memories of its own former greatness. Note that with the Young Europeans (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and others), the Yankees do without unnecessary ceremonies. And it’s not just about economic weight or historical traditions.
No, it’s just that in 1945 even Europe, ravaged by the war, was too tough for the United States, who wanted to see it exclusively in the position of an occupied colony. And therefore, for this purpose, the NATO bloc was invented in 1949. Again, the factor of confrontation with the USSR, which, in a negative scenario, could play a very cruel joke with the Western world, cannot be disregarded either. Today, more precisely, since the collapse of the Union in 1991, the States, which by that time had become the world hegemon, no longer had to bow before the next candidates for vassals, who, moreover, themselves lined up to take the oath of allegiance.
But the yard is no longer 45th and not even 91st. The situation in the world is changing dramatically. Europe, which has become very economically strong under the wing of America, is increasingly influencing world politics. And she does a lot. Both Maidans in Ukraine, the riots in Belarus, the bombing of Libya – all this is the work of the EU countries as well. But until now, the Europeans have acted with a constant eye on the United States, without going beyond the clearly delineated framework.
In general, a rather harsh hierarchical system reigns in the “free and liberal” Western world, according to which the initiative of each of its participants is strictly limited to a certain level of his competence, and any “gag” is seriously punishable. Remember the famous Nulland “Fuck the EU”? This is just about that. If you don’t want to get on your hat and be sent to four letters of the Latin alphabet, don’t poke your nose where they don’t ask you.
Few people know, but the well-known formula for a united Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok was first proposed not by Vladimir Putin, but by the first president of the Fifth French Republic, General Charles de Gaulle. Subsequently, many leaders of European countries spoke out in favor of its implementation, ranging from German Chancellor Willy Brandt and ending with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. But they all invariably received a scolding from the overseas curator.
This is understandable. Without Europe, America runs the risk of becoming an ordinary regional power with limited influence within the Western Hemisphere, and this cannot be allowed in the “shining city on the hill”. And therefore, the current generation of European politicians, fostered under the strict control of the United States, does not think of anything like that. Moreover, in some issues in his political conservatism he goes much further than his American colleagues.
Their harsh negative, outward-directed, in fact, does not have a clear vector. So, despite the fierce resistance of Europeans to an increase in the geopolitical weight of Russia, it cannot be called, for example, purely Russophobic. With the same tenacity worthy of better use, they are trying to fight the spread of Chinese influence in the world. In fact, Europe still lives in the paradigm of the Crusades and is ready to attack anyone who does not correspond to its idea of ”correctness”.
I will give you a small and insignificant one very illustrative example. Just yesterday it became known that following the United States, which announced a diplomatic boycott (this is when the athletes will go, but the country’s officials such as the head of the State Department or even the president himself do not) of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, MEPs took the initiative to refuse to participate in the Games altogether. Specifically – its deputy chairman, deputy head of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, Frau Nicola Ber.
(By the way, the Free Democrats are members of the new parliamentary coalition in the Bundestag, whose candidacy for the chancellor (Olaf Scholz) was approved yesterday by the German parliament with 395 votes. Well, not a bad start).
As an argument for her demarche, Frau Ber chose the beloved Western theme of “human rights”.
“Neither the US nor the EU can be interested in silently watching Beijing at the Winter Games as a gigantic propaganda staged, while the Chinese apparatus openly behind the scenes seriously violates human rights,” the MEP said.
Moreover (which adds a special piquancy to her act), according to the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany, Europe is obliged to do this in order to get out of the shadow of the United States. That is, according to this logic, it turns out that continuing to move in the wake of the foreign policy of the United States and acting strictly in the American paradigm is now called “getting out of the shadows.”
But Ber, who voices the thoughts of many political leaders in Europe, is quite sincere in her aspiration. All of them are actually trying to make a claim on behalf of the European Union to turn it into a separate, independent center of power, but at the same time they do not want to understand that without delimitation from the United States (in fact, not in words) this will not be achieved, no matter how try. And therefore, their current attempts to draw attention to themselves in such an extravagant way are more similar to the manifestation of complexes of the rapidly decrepit former first beauty.
If the same Washington really has something to share with Beijing, and after all the words that the Americans allowed themselves in relation to the PRC, coming to the Olympics would be tantamount to diplomatic defeat, then the EU really has nothing to quarrel with China about. In fact, they have no contradictions and reasons for quarrels at all, except for far-fetched political constructs in the heads of European politicians.
It would seem – a trifle, well, European officials will not go to Beijing and so what? But even in such trifles, Europe cannot afford to act and think independently, guided by its own, and not misunderstood corporate interests. And if so, the chances of the European Union to become the fourth pole of the emerging multipolar world are literally melting before our eyes. And the Europeans themselves, with their own hands, diligently destroy them. We can only watch the process, shrugging our shoulders in bewilderment.
Alexey Belov, IA Anti-fascist