Steve
04-07-2003, 01:13 PM
WWII: Won by the U.S. and its allies. Germany rebuilt; billions of dollars poured into the Continent through the Marshall plan.
The Cold War: The U.S. maintains hundreds of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of military installations, and billions of dollars of weaponry in Europe, to counter the Soviet threat. Germany is a major benefactor of military spending. At peace, the European economy thrives, going through ups and downs, as any economy will do, but generally modernizing, growing, and diversifying. Europe enjoys much of the technological innovation created by the U.S. computer industry and the Japanese consumer electronics industry (Japan having benefitted in a major way, after WWII, also).
The Governments: Relatively free from the threat of actual warfare, and under the influence of reasonably stable economies, the governments of the various European countries begin addressing social issues and strengthening economic ties to each other. Labor is free to move where it is needed; capital follows.
The Fall of the Soviet Union: Freed from the threat of Soviet invasions, most European governments immediately demobilize and drastically cut defense spending. The U.S. picks up the slack. The money once spent on defense is used to rebuild the former DDR and is invested in the former Eastern Bloc nations. Poland and Hungary flourish. Ethnic tensions break out in the former Yugoslavia. After much waffling, the governments of Europe let the U.S. largely settle matters, thus preventing those governments from having to spend too much money.
Today: The European Union is nearly borderless. Commerce, banking, labor, and tourists freely flow from one region to the next. A single currency eases all such transactions. Simplified trade regulations, while still being worked on in some areas, greatly ease trade. From the Baltic to the Mediterranean the EU presents a unified economy with guaranteed rights for all citizens
There is little doubt in my mind that without the stabilizing influence of the United States, the EU simply would not exist. It seems like a mighty strange way to become a hegemon: creating a rich, powerful, potential competitor such as the EU.
The Cold War: The U.S. maintains hundreds of thousands of soldiers, hundreds of military installations, and billions of dollars of weaponry in Europe, to counter the Soviet threat. Germany is a major benefactor of military spending. At peace, the European economy thrives, going through ups and downs, as any economy will do, but generally modernizing, growing, and diversifying. Europe enjoys much of the technological innovation created by the U.S. computer industry and the Japanese consumer electronics industry (Japan having benefitted in a major way, after WWII, also).
The Governments: Relatively free from the threat of actual warfare, and under the influence of reasonably stable economies, the governments of the various European countries begin addressing social issues and strengthening economic ties to each other. Labor is free to move where it is needed; capital follows.
The Fall of the Soviet Union: Freed from the threat of Soviet invasions, most European governments immediately demobilize and drastically cut defense spending. The U.S. picks up the slack. The money once spent on defense is used to rebuild the former DDR and is invested in the former Eastern Bloc nations. Poland and Hungary flourish. Ethnic tensions break out in the former Yugoslavia. After much waffling, the governments of Europe let the U.S. largely settle matters, thus preventing those governments from having to spend too much money.
Today: The European Union is nearly borderless. Commerce, banking, labor, and tourists freely flow from one region to the next. A single currency eases all such transactions. Simplified trade regulations, while still being worked on in some areas, greatly ease trade. From the Baltic to the Mediterranean the EU presents a unified economy with guaranteed rights for all citizens
There is little doubt in my mind that without the stabilizing influence of the United States, the EU simply would not exist. It seems like a mighty strange way to become a hegemon: creating a rich, powerful, potential competitor such as the EU.