Europe Is Becoming More and More Irrelevant

[Annie]

By choice:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/editorial/0409/19/a19-277390.htm

How Europe became a 90-pound weakling


By Thomas Bray / The Detroit News

If there is a consistent thread to John Kerry’s constantly shifting Iraq policy, it’s that George W. Bush didn’t do enough to create a real coalition to do the fighting. If elected, Kerry pledges to rectify that oversight.

But that involves several large assumptions, beginning with the question of whether the foremost absentees from the Iraq conflict, France and Germany, would report for duty. Second, what could these two countries bring to the party even if they were so inclined?

The answer: Not a lot.

The harsh fact is that the European military establishment, never large to begin with, is a 90-pound weakling. The United States, despite years of cutbacks beginning in the wake of the Cold War, plunked down nearly $400 billion last year to support its military. That’s about 3.7 percent of gross domestic product, only about half the amount spent at the height of the Cold War. The European Union, by contrast, spends less than 2.0 percent of its GDP on the military.

France spent a grand total of about $40 billion in 2002, according to North Atlantic Treaty Organization figures. Germany spent about $37 billion. The United Kingdom, though Prime Minister Tony Blair has proved to be a stalwart friend, came up with about $37 billion. Canada is off the charts at a mere $10 billion, and shrinking fast.

In Bosnia, where the French and Germans did collaborate in the sort of coalition Kerry favors, the United States had to deliver an embarrassing 85 percent of the missile strikes because of the primitive condition of the European air forces.

Why is Europe so weak? The trend began well before the end of the Cold War. Increasingly, Europe opted for the free-rider approach, happy to let American taxpayers shoulder the major share of the burden. But Europe’s continuing power-slide strongly suggests there may be an even more fundamental reason for its weakness: the debilitating effect of the vast European welfare state.

Europeans like to look down their noses at what they see as America’s “cowboy capitalism.” They prefer a system with generous economic and health benefits. And once somebody has a job, employers are all but forbidden to fire them or lay them off.

But the costs are substantial. Employers are understandably reluctant to hire new workers. And the average tax burden in Europe is about 40 percent, compared with 30 percent (federal and state) in the United States. Thus, while America was generating tens of millions of jobs in the 1980s and ‘90s, Europe was virtually stagnant.

There’s a lot of moaning stateside about President George W. Bush’s jobless recovery. But the unemployment rate in America is 5.4 percent, or less than it was in 1996 when Bill Clinton was running for re-election. In Europe, the average unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent.

And lest you think that Europe’s military stinginess and high tax rates at least keep deficits down, most European countries are running substantially in the red. Both France and Germany have failed to meet European Union requirements — which they themselves wrote — to keep deficits under 3.0 percent of GDP. The U.S. deficit is 3.7 percent of GDP.

John Kerry says the Bush administration offended our allies by “dissing” them on such matters as the Kyoto global warming accords, which Bush opposes. But the European fondness for carbon dioxide controls is easily explained by the fact that they would impose the biggest penalty on the American economy. This would make it far easier for Europe to compete without having to dismantle its cozy welfare state. Think of Kyoto as Europe’s weapon of mass destruction.

A broader European coalition to help out in Iraq? Don’t count on it. There isn’t much that France and Germany could contribute, beyond some marginal peacekeeping forces, even if they wanted to. And they are likely to remain unwilling to do so even if John Kerry is elected.

THOMAS BRAY

 

[Zebra]

sure?

 

[zaangalewa]

Europe Is Becoming More and More Irrelevant​

In this very long text is written:
"But that involves several large assumptions, beginning with the question of whether the foremost absentees from the Iraq conflict"

My point of view:

The Iraq war of the USA was made under influence of massive lies of the government of the USA - even in front of the United nations - and had been a clear break of international laws. The "preemptive strike" doctrine from George W. Bush was and is nothing else than a war of aggression. As one of the negative results of this break of international laws Russia also broke international laws in 2008 by attacking Georgia - and the lying hero in miniature format George W. Bush did do nothing. Putins Russia continued to break international laws. The USA did do nothing. Now currently Russia attacks Europe in the Ukraine and it looks like the USA made herselve in the moment relativelly "irrelevant" by blocking the own defense politics in case of a real military threat.

 

[Ringo]

France is overrun by bedbugs. Authorities are closing educational institutions, residents are afraid to sit on seats in subway cars and avoid public places altogether, but nothing helps - the bloodsucking insects only spread more. Bedbugs have infested subways, trains, hospitals, movie halls and schools. In Marseille, a newly built college was forced to close because of bedbugs.
People no longer want to ride sitting on the subway, the trains are packed to capacity, but passengers prefer to stand

 

[luiza]

Than What ?
Than Who ?
Than Where
Of course over time it will move to its natural place , say behind China , Russia and India . Possibly also over the US though that depends on what happens in the next year or two when seismic change may occur .

Irrelevance is a silly idea .
A sound basic idea ruined by exaggeration .

 

[Ringo]

Creativity of the mentally ill

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution that recognized the power of Russian President Vladimir Putin after 2024 as illegitimate and the Russian Federation as a "de facto dictatorship", according to a statement published on the official Internet portal of the organization.

As noted in the statement, the PACE expressed concern about the "extremely long stay in power" Vladimir Putin. It pointed out that Russian Federation lacks "any counterbalances" in the form of a strong parliament, an independent judiciary and free media.
"The president's overwhelming power has turned Russian Federation into a de facto dictatorship", the organization said.

The committee also reaffirmed its support for the decision on an international tribunal to hold the Russian leadership, including Putin, accountable for the "annexation of Crimea" and the special military operation in Ukraine.

 

[Ringo]

"Former UK PM Boris Johnson said in an interview with Ukrainian TV channel Rada that he remains a russophile and is fascinated by russian culture, language, culture and russian civilization.
"Only a fool would not admire it."

What do you and your henchmen want, Boris? Resources again?

 

[hjmick]

A nineteen year old thread? Seriously?

 

[Ringo]

Ukrainians are not refugees, they are "illegal migrants who commit crimes", Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski has said. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he said that Poland is not afraid to say "no" to migrants, unlike "spineless" politicians in Europe, who are afraid to face the truth and choose to tolerate the arbitrary behavior of refugees from all over the world.