Euro Club Lite
UNITED NATIONS Ñ FranceÕs late President Charles de Gaulle once envisioned a united Europe which stretched from the Bay of Biscay to the Urals. Indeed the grand vision of Le Grand Charles was just that, a chimera until the artificial barriers dividing Europe, the West from the East, had fallen in 1989 long after the General had passed on. Now in the midst of trying to focus on a post-Cold War destiny, EuropeÕs two most exclusive clubs, the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be expanding on an extraordinary scale.
Having evolved form the economic and commercial roots of the Common Market, todayÕs EU comprises both the economic foundations and indeed the political architecture for a united Europe. Though the EU is now set to accept new members in May 2003 ranging from Mediterranean Malta and Cyprus, to former Soviet bloc states such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland.
That places like the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Malta have distinct and historical European credentials goes without saying. Even many of todayÕs historical illiterates may be fleetingly aware that these cultures and civilizations are deeply rooted in Western tradition, values, and mores.
So now in the midst of the bejeweled spires of golden Prague, the NATO Summit has decided to enlarge its membership. Wisely established by American leadership in 1949 as a defense treaty and bulwark against Soviet expansionism, evolved into the most successful military alliance in history. It kept the peace which in turn allowed for unparalleled West European prosperity. EuropeÕs economic renaissance would have never been possible in the wake of WWII had it not been for the firm bonds of the Atlantic Alliance, anchored in an American security commitment. Not until the Kosovo Crisis in 1999, did NATO use force but SlobodanÕs Serbs were a poor substitute for the once feared Soviets.
The Atlantic Alliance is accepting seven new members from what had been former Soviet satraps. In 1999, NATO first moved eastwards accepting the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. In one sense this was a belated mea culpa for FDRÕs political perfidy at Yalta in 1945 where the U.S. allowed these countries to fall into StalinÕs communist sphere.
Now NATO is expanding from nineteen members to twenty-six accepting the three once-forsaken Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) who re-gained their independence in 1991 from Moscow. Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Romania are among the new members too. This offers the ultimate defense insurance policy guaranteed by the USA.
Looking at it less optimistically, we are creating new tripwires along unstable frontiers in places like Ukraine and Belarus. And trying to integrate these militaries to NATO standards will need even more optimism, as Hungary has proven in the past few years.
I recall a NATO that defined itself in defending places like the Fulda Gap where the U.S. 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment stood ready at the East German frontier, or the Berlin Brigade in isolated West Berlin, or the Sixth Fleet in the Eastern Mediterranean. But times changed and NATO Secretary Generals, sages like Dr. Joseph Luns of the Netherlands, or Manfred Worener of Germany, were replaced by the perpetually smiling Javier Solana of Spain, or now BritainÕs Lord Robertson.
In the post cold war era, NATO has searched for a clear raison dÕetre. The Soviet Empire is gone, Russia and its former republics remain fragmented shards of a geopolitical puzzle which has yet to define itself. Keeping the lid on the Balkans, fighting the war on terror, and keeping the peace in Kabul are among the new missions.
Thus NATO has been forced to reinvent itself from the heavy artillery and tank divisions facing formidable Warsaw Pact odds, to a convivial Euro Club of like minded socio/political systems who are seeking to preserve the status quo while tilting at the occasional windmill.
Now on the verge of possible conflict with Iraq, President George W. Bush has attempted to rally the NATO Summit into political accord with WashingtonÕs aims for a post-Saddam Iraq. The results will soon become apparent.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
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