From Refugees to Cold War II: Europe Pays the Price for US Adventurism
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Independent US journalist Deena Stryker explains why Europe has long been the powder keg for global conflagrations, and why today, once again, the continent is facing crises largely instigated by forces from the outside.
In her article,
published by the online foreign affairs magazine New Eastern Outlook,
Stryker recalls that while "Europe is the birthplace of most of the
ideas that gave Western Civilization its edge over the rest of the
world," geographically, it is only "a peninsula of Eurasia, and Africa's
backyard."
"Eurasia, most extensive from North to South, is three times greater than its European peninsula" in land mass. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Sea "makes clear that another immense continent [Africa] is only a boat ride away – even if currently, many such rides end in tragedy." "Add the fact that Europe comprises a minimum of forty nationalities and languages, crammed into a space that is less than one tenth that of Eurasia ([which has] perhaps the same number of major nationalities), and it's easy to see why it has historically been the scene of endless internecine squabbles, and even major wars."
'Phony War' With Russia Risks Becoming Hot
Nearly two decades ago, the analyst recalls, liberal interventionist scholar Zbignieuw Brzezinski outlined a plan "to divide Russia into smaller, easier to control entities" in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard.
This "led, in 2009, to an obedient Europe creating the Eastern Partnership, designed to draw former Soviet republics away from Russia. That having largely failed, in 2014, more drastic steps were taken, in the form of a 'popular' coup against Ukraine's president, backed by militias inspired by World War II fascists."
"Eurasia, most extensive from North to South, is three times greater than its European peninsula" in land mass. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Sea "makes clear that another immense continent [Africa] is only a boat ride away – even if currently, many such rides end in tragedy." "Add the fact that Europe comprises a minimum of forty nationalities and languages, crammed into a space that is less than one tenth that of Eurasia ([which has] perhaps the same number of major nationalities), and it's easy to see why it has historically been the scene of endless internecine squabbles, and even major wars."
Today, Stryker recalls, the conflict
between the Christian (and post-modern, post-Christian consumerist)
societies of Europe, and the cultural 'other' from the underdeveloped
Muslim world, rooted in the wars, coups and revolutions of the post-WWII
period, is starting to bear its terrible fruit, with "the entire
[continent] currently being assaulted by waves of desperate Muslim
refugees."
"Fifty thousand Syrians being held in Greek refugee camps are
about to be sent back to Turkey, many of them highly educated. After
processing, most will be allowed into Europe legally, joining
second-generation Muslims who are more educated than their parents,
but feeling at home and fully accepted in neither world, [and thus at]
risk [of] being recruited by ISIS."'Phony War' With Russia Risks Becoming Hot
At the same time, the analyst warns, over 75
years after the original 'phony war', a period at the start of World War
II when no major military operations were carried out on the Western
front following the collapse of Poland, "Europe is experiencing another
phony war," one "in which Washington scolds Western Europeans
for shirking their frontline role in its standoff with Russia."
The
crisis in Ukraine, which saw Crimea vote to join Russia and the east
of the country engulfed in civil war, "provided Washington with an
excuse to launch an all-out propaganda war against Russia in general and
its President Vladimir Putin in particular. Hardly a day goes by when
US newscasters fail to accuse Moscow of either 'invading' Ukraine or
'threatening' the Baltics."
What the anti-Russian media hysteria misses, Stryker suggests, is
Europe's real existential problem. Namely, the question is: "How would
spending more on NATO arms help solve Europe's real problem, which is
refugees from US-led wars?"
Nearly two decades ago, the analyst recalls, liberal interventionist scholar Zbignieuw Brzezinski outlined a plan "to divide Russia into smaller, easier to control entities" in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard.
This "led, in 2009, to an obedient Europe creating the Eastern Partnership, designed to draw former Soviet republics away from Russia. That having largely failed, in 2014, more drastic steps were taken, in the form of a 'popular' coup against Ukraine's president, backed by militias inspired by World War II fascists."
Unfortunately, the analyst warns, the most
troubling question today, as tensions between Moscow and NATO continue
to grow, and "Russia's air force taunts the US fleet just outside its
territorial waters in the Baltic Sea," is "what will stop this phony war
from becoming real?"