Sunday, July 30, 2017

Europe to Russia's Aid!

Who would have ever imagined that Europe, which for seventy-plus years allowed itself to be told by the US that Russia was a potential agressor, would end up siding with Russia against the US!

As I wrote a few days ago http://www.otherjones.com/2017/07/libya-syria-eu-and-russia-follow-energy.html  it's all about money - or, to be fair, about the economy of 500,000,000  people.

Before the US declared itself the ruler of the world, peoples traded with their neighbors, then, with the advent of ocean-going vessels -- not to mention the Silk Road - they began trading ever farther from home.  Although sanctions and blockades can be traced back to anciennt Greece, for centuries, trade remained pretty much a free for all, until the US set up international rules for this activity through the UN and the multitude of bodies launched in its wake, relying on them so heavily to enforce its will, that the world is literally trussed up like a chicken on a spit.

Anger has been building in Europe since the 2008 financial crisis that originated on Wall Street, forcing it to dilute many of its worker protections, and in some cases such as Greece and Spain, to even suffer austerity imposed by creditor banks. The appearance of a two-tier Europe, one for the better off, the other for the weaker, was recently joined by a new fault line between West and East. Similar to the one that existed during the Cold War, this time, it's about attitudes toward Muslim (and in many cases, black) refugees and migrants.  The former Soviet satellite countries are light years behind Western Europe when it comes to accepting a multi-racial society, and they are indigant at being told by Brussels that they must take their share of boat people, after decades of Soviet oversight.  While its young subscribe whole-heartedly to the Western youth culture, its leaders defend their Christian traditions, condemning 'multi-culturalism'.

Although the anti-Soviet Cold War is over, American politicians still accuse Russia of wanting to take over Europe, while US wars in the 'Third World" send a flood of migrants and refugees to its doorstep. America is so certain of its supremacy that its legislators openly link the passage of sanctions on Russia to sales of gas to Europe, giving the latter ample reason to point out that politics should be separate from business, and to threaten to impose sanctions on the US to protect what litlle independence it has. Russian gas is cheaper than the gas the US wants to ferry across the Atlantic in retaliation for Russia allegedly interfering its presidential election. Russia having proven to be a realiable supplier of gas through the original Nordstream pipeline from the Baltic Sea to Germany, sp Europeans see no reason to oppose the building of Nordstream 2, which US sanctions are targeting.

Under President Putin's watch, European businessmen  and politicians have been trekking to Russia, where  inicidentally, they've been exposed to information about the New China/Russia Silk Road that will link Europe to Asia.  So aside from the immediate gain to be had by sticking with Russian gas, it is small wonder that they are siding with their neighbor, after seventy years in an Atlantic Alliance that benefits mainly the US.

Meeting


2 comments:

  1. Excellent points, to bad 99+% of Americans have no idea what you are talking about. Nordstream,,,,isn't that a store?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for pointing out why I write!

    ReplyDelete