Nothing makes a cosmopolitan nerd such as myself more giddy than the idea of integrating several countries to form a special region and giving it a cool name. No, seriously. The Eurozone is simply awesome (anything with the prefix Euro- is inherently simply awesome. Except for Eurotrash.) The European Union is simply awesome. I am not riding some blase wave of EUphoria (credit for that term goes to Prof. Folke Lindhaal). I know the EU has massive problems: issues with the Euro, historical and ethnic conflicts with fellow members, recent problems with immigration, etc. But despite it all, the mindframe and ideology behind the EU is a beautiful one, one that countries all around the world ought to be adopting in this globalizing age. Here's why the EU is awesome:
1. Border erosion. A professor of mine once remarked that, when driving from Belgium to the Netherlands, the only way he knew he'd arrived in the Netherlands was by noticing that the roads became a lot nicer. European countries share so much of the same history, cultures, and conflicts that integration with one another seems the next logical step. I don't mean to say that a giant European state ought to be created. But by integrating with one another, the states of Europe have a network of natural allies to lean on during hard times. And it makes travel within the EU so pain-free. Just flash your passport (or your Schengen visa) and off you go, to explore the vast Eurozone. This is taking the border between the U.S. and Canada and multiplying it by 17.
2. Common foreign policy. This one hasn't come out exactly the way the world thought it would, but I have no doubt that it is going to get there. Strength in numbers, people always told me. Having all the European countries on one page is going to make negotiations a lot easier--or trickier, depending on the side you want negotiations to fall on. After all the commotion Europe has been through: both World Wars, the Cold War and the "Iron Curtain," the Serbian crisis of the late 1990s, etc. common foreign and security policy can only benefit Europe. No more inner divisions. Common policy also means a better usage of resources: all countries will pour their resources one way, instead of having countries pour resources to counter one another's policies.
3. Transformationalist viewpoint. The EU is working towards an answer to that most important question: in a removed but ruling organization, how much sovereingty does a country keep? This is England's beef with the EU (along with identity politics, but that's for later). The EU is attempting to show that a multi-national organization must and does allow room for individual member countries to run their states with little external influence. Save in times of crisis--such as intervening during a financial meltdown--EU policies have not really affected the individual countries of the Eurozone. Day to day affairs are still a country's own business. (No one from Strasbourg or Brussels came to Italy to tell bad boy Berlusconi to behave, or else, did they?) So globalization is possible, and everyone who is running around like a chicken without a head over the perception that states' roles have diminished can sew their chicken heads (or human heads) back on.
4. Gentrification. Ever noticed how we in America refer to Europe as, well, Europe, but they refer to America as...America? When we Americans say Europe, how many of us are actually thinking of eastern or central Europe? Point is, a lot of people have come to associate "Europe" with its high-power countries, like France, Italy, and Germany. When these countries join together and allow other potential countries to join in as well, a kind of gentrification process happens. Case in point, Turkey: it cleaned up, and continues to, so well for the chance of EU membership. Same with places like Romania or the Balkans. The EU's application process inadvertently spreads this spirit. It's bound to do more good than harm, but--as with everything else EU-related--the balance is a fine one.
All relationships take work. And the EU is no different. So let's have faith in it.
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