.
As i said before there is a feeling of complacency among European countries and leaving the U.S,U.K, and France shoulder all the burden to defend Europe in NATO.
It's for this reason that i'm against the idea of an E.U army. Since an EU Army, in line with the Union more generally, would excel at furnishing itself with all the baubles and luxurious trappings of office, but would fail at the serious task of defence.
There would be shiny new headquarters, flags and generals, but an EU army could never become a serious deterrent or fighting force. lol
So France and Britain need to continue their strong defence ties and cooperation, the others can carry on with what they want.
In between those smilies lies a tango between position and role.
Due to their pasts that share grandeur and Empire but also the humility born out of time shaping maturity,
those two nations are Europe's commando militaries if you will, it's SFs and Recon teams! For the same
reason, they share an honour that they understand as both a tool and a burden : UN SC permanent seats.
Most of the other Euros are saddled by historic complacency. The rich ones have mostly embraced the win
enjoyed by money over politics that was financial globalization. Their militaries are export tools. Without them,
they'd lose money so they maintain them. Germany, due to the immense social constraints left behind by those
50 years of Weltschmerz that darkened the second half of the 20th century for them
[ that would be '39-89 kids ] for
example, has its armed forces reduced to the role of prop for sales, the forces constituting the country's biggest
ministry ( department ) of very civil servants, plus fonctionnaires que fonctionnels! The smaller ones have another
motivation for their absence of interest and subsequent lack of abilities. Their complacency for world affairs is
either due to tunnel vision engendered by the menace from the Cold or difficulties in reforming ( with or without hyphen )
their nation, destroyed as it was by wars or constructivism, which they answer with the mantra : America.
They see themselves as de facto vassals of the United States. We see ourselves as allies to/with it!
... Because of which, we maintain our forces at an operational level so that they may help implement politics,
a role armies have always held, not as a teller booth to dish out subsidies and payments for their subjugation.
Until the two types are reconciled in some way, they're better kept apart!
That is why we are taking such a role in the Defence of Europe that we seems to have detached from it :
Because we can!
Because we know it has to be done and because they forgot that!
How shall we explain that Europe has a role in world affairs to nations uncertain about their place in Europe
and from that convince them to join?
It's like telling a kid of 8 that if he sacrifices his youth to the hardship of incessant training and injuries, he may
play point with Lionel Messi one day, and join him in applying tactics built on offense instead of the drudged stra-
tegy of blocking the rearguard favoured by the coach. But the kid is lukewarm because he is not confident that he
can even reach national team level & he'll point out that by then Messi will have retired anyway ...
so better please the coach?
Besides, some kids are not interested in football, period. At best they want to read poetry or learn the violin;
at worst, they'll be back to the cartoons or MTV before you finish explaining the above. Forget hard training
and dreams of glory : Shakira and Kanye are on! Thanks Uncle Sam for leaving the TV on and us in front of it
so we don't have to think about more pressing matters and ignore the future until it's become the past.
Pessimistic interlude, I know! Realism will do that to one, sorry, Tay.
