NATO

Myths endure because they create an outstanding surface upon which a range of ideas can be projected. The idea of a European army is no different. It has long been a repository for a wide array of concepts and goals for a flamboyant vision. Yet anyone who tries to grasp this pretty soap bubble ends up disappointed: It slips away or bursts.

“War,” said the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, is the “father of all things.” In view of the bloody – indeed barbaric – events in the Middle East (and in Iraq and Syria in particular), one might be tempted to agree, even though such ideas no longer seem to have a place in the postmodern worldview of today’s Europe.

Major global conflicts are not resolved in the Dutch Parliament. Nor is The Hague the centre of the world. The Netherlands’ influence is determined by the extent to which it collaborates with other countries. GroenLinks therefore needs to look across the border when defining its position on military intervention. The opinions of our allies should be taken into account.

Traditional theoretical approaches to conflicts are inoperative.

After the end of the Cold War and the renaissance of nationalism and of the concomitant abuses of human rights of the worst kind, the pacifism that had been one of the German Greens’ founding principles came into increasing conflict with its active defence of human rights.

Although Greens tend to agree on most issues, they don’t always think alike. Politicians from France, the UK and Germany discuss their stances and those of their national parties on the military industry, drones, Afghanistan, the legacy of Joschka Fischer, among other thorny issues…

How can we explain the stalling of talks and postponement of real action towards nuclear disarmament, and what are the obstacles holding back the EU from being a leader by example?

Medication and water bottles have numerous advantages in a crisis situation, but it’s quite sure that they cannot be used to stop ISIS. The greatest dilemmas of European Greens are rooted in a conflict of values, as well as in the difficulty of reconciling theory and practice. To overcome them, Greens need to work on a political solution.

While the traditional European way of peace-making was based on separating peoples, the Green European way of peace-building should be based on power-sharing and trust-building.

In the most recent conflict with Russia, the EU has tried to find a solution that avoids war. The EU considers military action only as the last resort – and that should not change in the future, even if we accept that the world won’t become an entirely peaceful place from one day to next. An interview with Rebecca Harms.