It's Still 1945 in Europe - In Washington's View--Eric Margolis
Published on Saturday, July 12, 2014 by Eric Margolis
It's Still 1945 in Europe - In Washington's View
by Eric Margolis
Unwisely, Washington still deals with Europe and the EU as if dealing with minor vassal states: “foot soldiers for America’s nuclear knights,” in the pithy words of Germany’s late defense minister, Franz Josef Strauss. Washington’s arrogance and contempt for Europe was best illustrated by State Department neocon Victoria Nuland’s reply when asked if the EU should get more involved in US attempts to overthrow Ukraine’s pro-Russian government, “f-k the EU.”
Washington has never accepted any European state or the EU as an equal. While official US policy backs a united Europe, unofficially the US has sometimes tried to thwart or delay unification – particularly a European armed force. NATO – 76% financed and run by Washington – is still the EU’s police force and America’s big stick in Europe.
At times, it looks as if not so much has changed in Europe since 1945. The Soviets are gone, but the more amiable Americans are still around. But it often seems that Washington is almost trying to alienate its natural European allies by treating them like banana republics with old world charm.
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/07/12-1
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COMMENT ON "Common Dreams" to Eric Margolis Article.....
John Tredrea • a day ago
"Just how independent is the European Union?"—I would complete this article by adding "Just how independent is the United States?" The problem has ceased to be one of geopolitical domination by one massively powerful nation state. The real problem has become that nation states themselves are becoming increasingly marginalized. Transnational corporations are the real 500 pound gorillas on the world stage now and the kind of nationalistic loyalties that once governed the world's various national leaders no longer exist.
"Free trade", deregulation, outsourcing, the gutting of government controls WITHIN nation states , the IMF, the World Bank, NAFTA, and now the TPP were not developed by snake oil salesmen like Milton Friedman to enable the United States to dominate Europe or any other part of the world. They were developed to allow corporations to shed the limitations of national boundaries and they have succeeded beyond even old Miltie's wildest dreams.
The United States at this moment has one and only one real function and that is to provide the policing power that international corporatism requires to keep the lid on human aspirations. What we are in the business of producing are the storm troopers of the 21st century—not for our benefit or even for the sole benefit of our now infamous 1%. Our 1%, in fact, are no longer OUR anything. They are members of the transnational country club that has spread its tentacles across the planet from Saudi sheiks to Russian oligarchs and finally to the Koch brothers and their ilk.
Eric Margolis is a wonderfully perceptive writer, but I think that he may in this case be tied to an osolotete world view. In precisely the same way that the Democrats and the Republicans have become different sides of a single coin, the nation states, including the United States, have become little more than convenient masks for the real imperialism of the coming century.
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