At the same time, Europe is getting increasingly dependent on the US' ability to provide security and serve as the guarantor of peace. A more assertive and less predictable Russia reminds Europeans that their lives would be much less convenient if it wasn't for the US nuclear umbrella. Issues such as Iran, piracy, and Palestine are of vital interest to Europeans but rely on a strong US to be resolved. Even the European Union's own attempt to become a producer of security, the European Security and Defense Policy, has proven to be largely dependent on NATO and American assets. If Washington, for a sheer lack of resources, is forced to concentrate its diminished assets on a few select hot issues, Europe, incapable of defending itself, could end up being a significantly less comfy place to live in.
I'll take a stab at translating the bolded parts:
- Jake If you only spend 20 minutes of the rest of your life on economics, go spend them here.
Assuming this has a kernel of truth and I, for one, suspect it does; the question becomes: What are these ad-hoc justifications trying to prevent? Money is a sign of Poverty - Culture Saying
What are these ad-hoc justifications trying to prevent?
a new frame? one that says we need NATO like a hole in the head?
one that acknowledges the interactivity of europe with the new russia, where people travel freely and we enjoy each others' cultural heritage?
a far cry from the kruschev days, when russia was pretty evil.
and yes we are grateful, but we don't need a crutch anymore, we can walk now, and our way of doing business with the rest of the world is a lot less pushy and outright belligerent than 'captain' america's.
in a thread full of good observations, Jerome's rings the truest, imo, that the EU countries are props for the mighty will of america, to make it seem less unilteral, the rest is just hogwash spin. ~Government budget deficits are not nearly as dangerous as the deficits we have created in vital and complex natural systems.~ Naomi Klein.
