[Culturechat] Stratfor.com on the EU Constitution

Thu, 26 May 2005 14:02:29 -0400

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That's a really good, if overly long, piece. When this all started France 
saw the EU as the means to politically dominate Europe and counter the U.S. 
Nonetheless, I could never see France, much less Germany and Italy, ceding 
sovereignty other than to a trivial extent. France is now paying dearly for 
its misadventures in Algeria (I love the way the article characterizes 
this) and the inclusion of most of the Eastern bloc countries and, 
particularly, Turkey, which introduces a cultural and religious element, 
both significantly waters down France's influence and scares the hell out 
of its politicians. Witness the recent furor over prohibiting Muslim 
headdress in schools. I forget the exact number, but Muslims now make up 
something like 20+% of France's population.

Union in Europe is much more difficult to achieve than it was in the U.S. 
We were a founding nation in a new land with no history of PA going to war 
with NY or MD. People in all three states spoke English and were from more 
or less common cultural roots. Not so in Europe. Different languages, 
varying cultures, and at one time or another, everyone fought everyone 
else, like a permanent version of the Hatfields and McCoys. This heritage 
means, fundamentally, that no one really trusts anyone else.

The vote this weekend will be most instructive.

Thanks for posting this.

Jerry

At 09:27 AM 5/26/2005, WesTexas@aol.com wrote:
>THE GEOPOLITICAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT
>
>The European Crisis
>May 24, 2005 19:38  GMT
>...

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That's a really good, if overly long, piece. When this all started France
saw the EU as the means to politically dominate Europe and counter the
U.S. Nonetheless, I could never see France, much less Germany and Italy,
ceding sovereignty other than to a trivial extent. France is now paying
dearly for its misadventures in Algeria (I love the way the article
characterizes this) and the inclusion of most of the Eastern bloc
countries and, particularly, Turkey, which introduces a cultural and
religious element, both significantly waters down France's influence and
scares the hell out of its politicians. Witness the recent furor over
prohibiting Muslim headdress in schools. I forget the exact number, but
Muslims now make up something like 20+% of France's population. 
Union in Europe is much more difficult to achieve than it was in the U.S.
We were a founding nation in a new land with no history of PA going to
war with NY or MD. People in all three states spoke English and were from
more or less common cultural roots. Not so in Europe. Different
languages, varying cultures, and at one time or another, everyone fought
everyone else, like a permanent version of the Hatfields and McCoys. This
heritage means, fundamentally, that no one really trusts anyone
else. 
The vote this weekend will be most instructive. 
Thanks for posting this. 
Jerry 
At 09:27 AM 5/26/2005, WesTexas@aol.com wrote: 
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">THE
GEOPOLITICAL INTELLIGENCE REPORT 
&nbsp; 
The European Crisis 
May 24, 2005 19:38&nbsp; GMT 
...</blockquote> 
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