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Europe In The News: Ominous Prospects, by Michael F.
It appears as if there are some new developments going in on the Continent, that unfortunately appear to be old memes being resurrected for the 21st Century.
Let’s take a look at the highlights of recent events:
- Greece continues to have widespread protests and riots as unemployment remains above 25% (25.4%, when measured in August, 2012) and austerity measures continue to be implemented.
- Spain is in a deep recession, and has been since 2008. The banking industry in Spain alone could require 60 Billion Euros to remain solvent.
- Portugal and Italy are in similar straits to Spain and all three are close to emulating the protests, strikes, and general unrest taking place Greece.
- Germany has provided a foundation for the EU economically but has taken major spending cuts in order to support that activity.
- Britain, and France have scrapped or idled their capital ships. In other words Britain and France no longer are operating carriers and have limited power projection capabilities as we saw from the Libyan events.
- On Tuesday minority members of the Hungarian parliament ”urged the government” to draw up a list of Jewish members of the government that might be security risks.
We know that the ethnic melting pot that Europe has never blended well and remains stratified. There has never been a bending of cultural characteristics and acceptance of differing religious beliefs. Over the centuries the conflicts that have been fought in Europe have at their lowest levels either been about resources, or cultural clashes. The Balkans have devolved into a set of small “city-states” for lack of a better description, that are essentially cultural enclaves. Areas in this part of Europe remain a hotbed of ethnic conflict, and have been the scene of genocidal conflict since the end of the Cold War.
In 1984 Sarajevo was the host to the Winter Olympic games. The city was a shining jewel of modern architecture blended with the “old world”. Nestled in the mountains the area was one that had been unseen by most Westerners until the Iron Curtain had begun to tear and dissolve. Four years later, civil war in Yugoslavia resulted in massive damage to the city. The source of this conflict remains today, the ethnic division within this region.
This is not a new conflict as it has its roots far back in history with genocidal atrocities taking place every half century or so. The great experiment that was Soviet Communism and Central planning failed. In Western Europe over the past 60 years we have seen a trend toward big government, and broad social entitlement programs with the offset being less individual freedom. This too appears to be a form of government that is producing less than optimal results, as we see Greece, Spain, Portugal, and to some degree Italy on the verge of failure. We see Germany trying to support these states to prevent total economic collapse that will result in a flood of refugees to the more prosperous nations, and in turn pull the entire Euro zone into the quagmire. Governments have made major reductions in their ability to project power.
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