EU, UN and other inconsequential alphabet....

It's a possibility. At present, oil exports are denominated in US Dollars, which gives the dollar enormous leverage. Whether this will continue depends entirely what the OPEC nations perceive as their best interest. The Arab nations value monetary stability as much as any Swiss banker.

On the unity question, it seems a strange word to use in connection with an organization of which France is a member, though I don't see a relationship to UN performance.

During the recent UN untidiness, we watched France and Germany reveal their newfound alliance, and moreso France's distain for the little Eastern European countries-- A distinct rift between France and Germany against the Brits was also apparent. Spain will have a tough time dealing with France and Germany, I assume. Loyalties in Europe look like a checkerboard-- and from this, they will create concensus?

It's hard enough for a representative government to work in cohesive fashion when the goals are for one united country. When you have many seperate countries, with little as common goals, I think the odds on working together, without ruinous in-fighting are almost nil.

But, Rog, nobody on the thread agreed with me, either. Maybe I subconciously think France is incapable of anything useful. If so, my bad. :wink:

Full story

US goods set to double in price as Europe plans huge trade war

By Stephen Castle in Brussels
11 November 2003

Excerpt

American jeans, Florida orange juice and dozens of other US products could double in price from next month because of a growing transatlantic trade war.

The World Trade Organisation gave the European Union permission yesterday to impose huge import tariffs, which will allow price increases of between 8 and 100 per cent on a range of goods.

The row, which began when America imposed special duties of up to 30 per cent on European steel last year, reached a climax yesterday when the trade watchdog gave a final decision in favour of the EU. It said the US action was "inconsistent" with free trade commitments. Europe can now impose duties on products ranging from T-shirts and lavatory paper, to bras, pantyhose, suspenders, ballpoint pens, ski suits and bowling alley equipment. Harley Davidson motorcycles were included in an early draft of the sanctions list, but were not included yesterday.

The EU says its sanctions, amounting to ¤2.2bn (£1.5bn) a year, will come into force on 15 December unless Washington drops its steel duties. The sanctions would be the biggest in the history of the WTO.

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There appears to be a shrill, self righteous, antagonism for the U.S. afoot in much of Europe that I find a bit hard to understand. The conventional explanation is that it is a result of Bush's inept handling of international dialogue and an inclination to seek only our self interest, presumably in the face of far more altruistic impulses dominating Europeans. The theory goes that after 9/11 we enjoyed the esteem and sympathy of the world and have pissed it away by our clumsy preoccupation with our own security above all else. I don't buy it and believe that it is is even more a symptom of the end of the fears associated with the Cold War; the ambition of France and Germany to lead a new united Europe and underlying growing divergence of the self interests of America and Europe.

Still I don't even find that explanation entirely satisfying. Not everyone in Europe welcomes French/German leadership and dominance. The conflict we face with the Islamist forces in the Moslem world was more or less in the cards sometime this decade, no matter what might have been our policy in recent years. The origins of this struggle go back to the fall of the Ottoman empire and the demise of European empires in west and south Asia. Indeed this and the mess in Israel/Palestine are equally legacies of European history through WWII. Oddly Europe appears to be blind to both issues (or perhaps merely willing to see us take the heat.). European forgetfulness appears to be matched only by their capacity for self-righteous indignation.

Czech warns Europe of 'dream world' woes

By Arnaud de Borchgrave
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Excerpt


Czech President Vaclav Klaus said Europeans are living in a "dream world" of welfare and long vacations and have yet to realize "they are not moving toward some sort of nirvana."
The Czech Republic is a candidate for European Union membership, but Mr. Klaus, who was elected president in February, made clear in an interview his distaste for the organization.
However, he conceded during a visit to Washington last week that "the political unification of Europe" is now in "an accelerated process ... in all aspects and in all respects."
Mr. Klaus said the movement toward a single political entity of 25 European nations "will not change until people start thinking and realizing they are not moving toward some sort of nirvana."
The Czech president remains convinced that "you cannot have democratic accountability in anything bigger than a nation state."
Asked whether he could see the nation-state disappearing, Mr. Klaus replied, "That could well be the case, [but] it remains to be seen whether it will be the nominal disappearance or the real disappearance.
"We could see the scaffolding of a nation-state that would retain a president and similar institutions, but with virtually zero influence," he said "That's my forecast. And it's not a reassuring vision of the future."

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This is an interesting view and I expect we will see more of it as the EU accepts numerous new, and less wealthy members, while, at the same time, wrestling with the politicaL aspects of unification and the creation of democratic (as opposed to the merely bureaucratic) elements of EU governance.