The Balkan chessboard: Russia’s ruble diplomacy and EU interests

In 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski argued that “a power that dominates Eurasia would control two of the world’s three most advanced and economically productive regions. A mere glance at the map also suggests that control over Eurasia would entail Africa’s subordination, rendering the Western Hemisphere and Oceania geopolitically peripheral to the world’s central continent”. His book The Grand Chessboard was indeed a major contribution to geopolitical studies. Depicting the new challenges for US foreign policy in a multipolar world, Brzezinski identifies the geopolitical Achilles’ heel of the 21st century in the area he designated as the Global Balkans, i.e. “the swathe of Eurasia between Europe and the Far East.”

A federation, yes, but what kind?

Whether it be poltical, budgetary, or based on financial solidarity, the idea of ​​a more integrated EU is in fashion. But just what final form would the Federal Union take in the end? Nobody really knows, and that’s the whole problem.

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In Canada, the U.S. and Germany, people know what a federation and federalism mean, because they live in federations. In the case of the Germans it’s a paradox that, despite living in one, they are unable to imagine a federation at the European level, and the idea of a federation within a federation (like Russian matryoshka dolls) doesn’t really appeal to them much.

Germany Hasn’t Given Up on a United States of Europe

Led by Berlin, a select group of 10 states has formed to ‘revive the ideal of a united Europe.’

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Created and led by Germany, the “Berlin Club” met for the first time on March 20 in Berlin. There’s a lot we haven’t been told about Europe’s latest club of elitists. What we do know is that it’s the brainchild of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, that it is comprised of Europe’s most pro-unification states, and that it exists to reinvigorate the unification of Europe.

Germany is joined in the club by Poland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, Luxemburg, Spain, Denmark and France. The select group is scheduled to meet at least four more times to discuss proposals for closer integration, and plans to publish its conclusions in a final report. The club’s agenda is long, and includes discussions about European security and border control, fiscal and economic government, and ways to stabilize growth.

Yesterday, Presseurop translated an article from the Spanish abc newspaper reporting that “10 countries have formed the ‘Berlin Club’ to revive the European project.” According to the abc article, Berlin’s goal is to “create a kind of ‘club’ committed to developing formulas that, in these times of crisis, will revive the ideal of a united Europe” (emphasis added throughout). Since Europe’s financial crisis began in 2008, the EU has been hit with one crisis after another, with each being reported by many as another nail in the coffin of a United States of Europe.

Full article: Germany Hasn’t Given Up on a United States of Europe (The Trumpet)