Geopolitics

A crisis point has emerged, whereby the figure of the ‘irregular’ migrant is seen as both a security threat to the European Union (EU) and its borders and as a life that is itself threatened and in need of saving by the EU and its agencies.

The roots of the 13th of November are also to be sought from the foreign policy of both Europe and France over the past forty years. Europe’s withdrawal from the Palestinian question, the missed opportunity with Turkey which could have so easily been brought into the fold of the EU, France’s alliance with the ‘petro-monarchies’… are all mistakes which have only served to aggravate the calamity and feed rancour and radicalisation in the Middle-East.

Their worlds are still far apart: national security and foreign policy experts have traditionally thought of energy mainly in terms of the need to secure access to energy resources from abroad while avoiding strategic dependence on the suppliers.

How can trust be built when 16.000 weapons of mass-destructions are faced to each other? Anda Serban is the Coordinator of ICAN Romania and reflects on her experiences with lobbying.

At the southern border of “Fortress Europe”, the Mediterranean has turned into a graveyard. The current migrant crisis in Europe is about more than a risk to the EU’s reputation. It strikes at the core of the EU’s founding values. A continuation of its half-hearted response to the migration crisis is out of question.

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.

The numbers of deaths in Syria and Iraq are deeply disturbing. But the numbers create the false impression that civilians are merely victims of violent conflict, passively waiting to be overwhelmed by violence or exhaustion.

“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.

There is no shortage of material with which to criticise American policy. But what exactly is the aim of this criticism – decoupling from America, or the renewal of the West?