European Peace Derangement Syndrome
After willingly sacrificing their own interests on the altar of US hegemony, euro leaders are now posturing as the last defenders of the very policies that rendered them irrelevant in the first place
I’ve written for Compact about the pathetic response of European leaders to Trump’s Ukraine policy:
After willingly sacrificing their own interests on the altar of US hegemony, they are now posturing as the last defenders of the very policies that rendered them irrelevant in the first place. This is less a display of real conviction than a psychological reflex—a feeble attempt to mask the humiliation of being exposed by their patron as mere vassals, a hollow charade of “autonomy”.
Far from being a genuine assertion of independence, Europe’s opposition to Trump’s peace overtures and its calls to bolster European military capabilities are, in reality, little more than an attempt to mimic Washington’s militarism in hopes of regaining its favor. This is not autonomy—it is subservience in another form. European leaders, having been sidelined by the hegemon they so loyally served, now seek to prove their worth by embracing an even more hardline stance, as if outcompeting the US in belligerence might restore their relevance.
Although Europe lacks the financial, political, and military means to sustain the war in Ukraine without Washington’s backing, the dangers of its current warmongering stance should not be underestimated. Powerful interests both within Europe and in the US defense sector would be more than happy to see peace negotiations fail. Even if Washington succeeds in brokering a temporary truce, as some hope, Moscow has already made it clear that it will not accept any half-baked solutions. Meanwhile, a Europe gripped by war fever and consumed by Russophobia remains a serious obstacle to any durable settlement: so long as Europe remains stuck in an antagonistic and permanently militarized relationship with Russia, tensions could flare up again at any moments.
Read the article here.
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Thomas Fazi
Website: thomasfazi.net
Twitter: @battleforeurope
Latest book: The Covid Consensus: The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left (co-authored with Toby Green)
Tom, this is a brilliant concise assessment of a duped organization’s automatic reaction to this self realization. Indeed, we’ll show ‘em, we will just dig this hole deeper. The trick here is to somehow have them disregard vanity and think about humanity. It certainly won’t come from the European media.
They have no choice no matter what. They've been rabidly pro-war for years and turning 180 degrees would not only expose the true belligerent nature of their stance, but also would make them responsible for the economic disaster thereby caused and, much more importantly, the needless killing of both Ukrainians (especially those) and Russians and destruction of Ukraine.
They cannot but double down. It's up to the people to flush these effers down the drain!