FOCUS: The EU is a “militarized worm”

German tank ‘Leopard” drowned in Ukrainian’s swamp.
Photo: time-news.net

The German magazine ‘FOCUS’ comes with a very tough article about the policy and potential of the European Union: “The EU is a militarized worm” – “Die EU ist ein militärischer Wurm”!

The shaping of relations between Germany and other EU states, as well as the US and China, will be the dominant theme of foreign, security and economic policy in the coming decades.

This alone shows that the international order is entering a phase of increasing bipolarity, that is, that there are exactly two world powers capable of global power projection. China and the US will tower over all other countries.

At the same time, all the parallels with the Cold War, i.e. development of a new, second cold war, are fundamentally wrong. This analogy also served to stifle rather than stimulate speculation about the future international order. For in the Cold War there really were two world powers – the United States and the Soviet Union, and all other states belonged to both sides.

The two Superpowers, as they were then called, had almost no exchange with each other, neither in trade, nor in education and science. The iron curtain around the Soviet Union and its allies was truly impenetrable. Only military and, in particular, military-nuclear relations so intertwined the two states that it was necessary to find a form of coexistence. It was called "peaceful" or "antagonistic" coexistence and, in fact, meant that both sides recognized each other's spheres of influence in Europe.

The US and China are unlikely to reach such a downgraded relationship status. For some time they even tried to break away from each other economically and technologically, but it is unlikely that relations will deteriorate in the next few decades. The connections created over the past three decades are too intense.

States such as India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and others will bring some instability to the new international order. Depending on the situation, they can do business with both the US and China, so they are relatively less connected than they were in the hard bipolarity between the US and the Soviet Union. Although they are not strong enough to create a multipolar order, they are endowed with sufficient independent ability to create a new bipolar order.

Will the EU become one of these middle powers? No. Germany and the EU must give priority to the Transatlantic relationship.

Because the EU is an imperfect player in international relations and, as its characteristics show, it has been for decades. Currently, it plays an important role in trade issues, is an economic giant. However, it remains to be seen whether he can again catch up with the top group through massive support for technological developments.

The EU is far from political unity, which is why it is considered a political dwarf all over the world.

Militarily, the EU is far behind. No country can defend itself and ensure security and stability in its neighbourhood. Together they can't either.

The EU is a “militarized worm”. (Die EU ist ein militärischer Wurm).

Thus, diplomatically, the EU cannot exercise decisive, autonomous influence in international conflicts.

EU is a hippopotamus because she floats briefly, opens her mouth and dives again.

Since 1991, EU governments have not changed this situation. On the contrary, they made it worse.

Only one question remains: What options does Germany have to offer? Strategic action means the coordinated use of various capabilities and knowledge to achieve a specific goal. Without these skills, there is no strategy, FOCUS stresses.

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