Quote:
Originally posted by onetime2
Do you want to take bets on the success of the EU defense force? Look at the level of military readiness in many of the EU forces today. They typically have not done a good job within their own borders and it will be a long time (if ever) before they can get something useful together across borders. Creating a defense force from a population with similar backgrounds, a base in nationalistic beliefs, common language, etc is far easier than trying to build a multinational force that has at its core a sense of loyalty to the entity they are trying to defend. There is German nationalism, French nationalism, Spanish nationalism, etc but there is no EU nationalism. Maybe it can be built, but that's a mighty big task.
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Well, we've come a long way together, really. There was a plan for a European Defense Community (EDC) as early as 1950, but the French National Assembly never ratified it then. Reasons were that the French were a bit reluctant to give up the sole control over their forces, and off course, the idea of the rearmament of Germany -with the second World War still fresh in their memories- didn't have to count on much support of the French either. With the Cold War coming to an end in 1989, talks about a EDC came up again, expecting that American forces would soon redraw from Europe.
I believe there will be such a thing as a European Army one day, but it will probably take a loooong time to convince every partner and to find the most appropriate ways.
It is a delicate matter off course. An army is one of the core-policies of a national state. But then, so is the national currency! And we (most of us) succeeded in that area. Should you have spoken of a single European currency in the 1950's, you'd encountered some very heavy eyebrow-frowning!! First, all the partners have to be convinced of the mutual gain they can get out of such a community.
National states (not only in the European Union) should start to realize that their sovereignity is declining, and that that isn't necessarily a bad thing!
The European Union is an "ever closer union", in my opinion, it's just a matter of patience!