Europe threatening the world again
22 Nov, 2011
Europe's contribution to human progress is colossal. That is a fact. Just remember the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution and what followed and you get the idea. The other fact is that Europe has contributed immensely to human misery. It started with the search for spices to keep meat fresh, and ended with colonizing and ruining the world for indigenous peoples. Even the trip west was originally embarked on to find a way to India and the much needed spices.
World War I was nothing more than a 'family squabble' as one historian put it. Considering that most of Europe's royal families, including the Kaiser, were a product of that extra-fertile Queen called Victoria (good thing her husband died early and rather young otherwise we would have had her progeny ruling Arabia itself) the family connection is obvious. Otherwise, I can hardly see in 1914 the ultimate ambition of a Russian peasant to be the desire to occupy Berlin.
Nevertheless, rule they did. Both France and Great Britain ruled the world under occupation. Germany was not a super colonial power. Germany wanted to rule the rulers. Germany wanted to rule Europe and, by default, rule the world. So within twenty years of the end of the first war, the second started and the world was plunged into darkness again.
Today we find Europe threatening the world again. This time economically. The Euro zone's financial troubles are now common knowledge. If the pen is mightier than the sword, we can safely assume that money these days is mightier than Russia's defunct nuclear arsenal. Economics and dynastic ambitions are the major causes of wars.
France and Great Britain (dynastic in the historical ambition sense) still harbor illusions about their past glory. They simply refuse to accept the fact that they are marginal in more ways than they can count. The real powerhouse is the USA. Add China economically, Germany (alone) industrially, Japan in its economic and innovational resilience, and you have the real powers that should and can dictate the tune this world dances to. Yet Germany and Japan are not permanent members of the UN Security Council. France and GB are there with the veto power. No wonder no one takes the UN seriously and Bush 2 had the audacity to send his Foreign Secretary to lie outright about Iraq with impunity.
Though Europe, in its NATO guise, helped send Ghadaffi to his much deserved end, the real reason they intervened was oil, money, and business. Those who bombed him were a few weeks earlier kissing his cheeks (some kissed his hands) and hailing him as a 'leader.' This was done with complete disregard to 'human rights' and whatever slogans Europe was peddling at any given moment. More people are being slaughtered in Yemen, yet Europe is silent.
The world today is connected in a very unhealthy way. No longer can we say that when X catches a cold, Y sneezes. We have to say that when European Banks fail (if not states) the ramifications are incalculable. The United States gets enough flak for its contributions to human discord, but this time you can trust the old culprits to practice their magic in this hideous exercise.
They should put their house in order and not inflict another disaster on the world. Over the centuries they have stolen every ounce of raw material from the world starting with gold and oil and not sparing cotton and wheat. They converted this to mighty cash economies. Now is the time to cough up this money to save themselves and spare the world another disaster. It really means little if the rest of the world dies from nuclear bombs or simple starvation. Death is death. And historically Europe has enough blood on its hands, I should think.
Source: Published by Arab News
JACK E. HAMMOND (22 Nov, 2011)
Folks, I can not leave the statement about Europeans (and he probably means the US to) caused the most misery in the world with its colonization. The worst colonizers in the world history (the Mongols don't count as they did not colonize, they exterminated). Was the Islamic conquest of India. Yes there were a few bright moments with Akabar, but for the most part the Islamic conquest was one of blood after blood. And remember why Indonesia became independent. They had co-operated fully with the Japanese after WW2, and that was understandable. But what they did to the prisoners of war the Japanese had and the European and Eurasian woman and children was a war crime. If any of the Asian nations after WW2 deserved the wrath of the victors after Japan it was what became Indonesia. And Indonesia could have been cut off and easily as it is islands. But no instead the US forced the Dutch to let go of Indonesia. And the results is the Javanese are the biggest colonizers in the world today. And have no pity what so ever for stone age people of former Dutch New Guinea which the Dutch were forced to deliver into the ruthless hands of the same people that made former Portuguese Timor a blood bath. Mainly by articles like this one where "European" colonialism is a foul word. But ask any country today that was once colonized by Islamic rulers and also had European rulers which they would pick. From Asia, to Africa and I would not wish to think of the Europeans colonized by the Ottomans. I have heard their descendents comment. They are not pleasant. The West full admits their sins of the past. But as they say "Retroactive self-righteousness is easy -- plus it is cheap!" And in the Islamic world it absolves them today of all their past sins. Jack E. Hammond, USA.
HASSAN (22 Nov, 2011)
Kudos to Mohamed for a job well done, great article. Thank you.
EUROPEAN WOMAN (22 Nov, 2011)
Oh, yes, the world would be a much better place if Europe and the US had never existed. The world could still be happily living in the perfection and enlightenment of the dark ages. Everything that is wrong with the world is the fault of the Europeans. They have done more harm than good those Europeans. Perhaps all the worlds people should simply boycott everything, every product and service from those European blood-suckers. No more immigrating to Europe.
Since neither the Europeans nor the Americans have money any longer and must now take care of their own people, no doubt the wealthy Arabs will take up the slack on world aid. Surely, no one will want to go to Europe or America any longer, nor will they want to send their children to school there and no one will want to travel to either place for vacation, to get medical treatment or just to shop. China and India will be the new destinations for the wealthy, all the rest will just have to figure it out. No more meddling UN peacekeepers paid for by the West. No more technology, no more education, no more food aid, no more medical aid, no more disaster aid, no more luxury goods from Europe, no more European or American technological innovations. Europe and the rest of the West will simply fade away then China will take over, not threatening the world of course. China will not bomb anyone or interfere in any way to keep their tyrants from slaughtering them. China will merely sit back and let them annihilate each other so that she can move in and take/buy their raw materials and resources while respecting everyoneâ™s human rights. They might even support a non-imperial, non-threatening caliphate.
Sounds like a very healthy connection.
BOB MCGEE (22 Nov, 2011)
Excellent article.
MART (22 Nov, 2011)
Europe is silent ? How about the Arab world being silent when people were butchered in Darfur and Arabs would still roll out a red carpet for Bashir ? Despite the fact that he's wanted by the International Court of Justice ? People were shot in Syria and Arab world was silent.
RAZA (22 Nov, 2011)
Whats the solution. They never stop arms/weapons business and playing the dirty games like they played in Libya.
AWABNAVI (22 Nov, 2011)
We can expect more wars by NATO. The West had lost all their colonies in the aftermath of world war two. Thus they lost the FREE RESOURCES they exploited. Secondly they have lost their MARKET MONOPOLIES in those colonies to emerging economic giants China, India, Taiwan, Singapore - not to mention Japan, South Korea, etc. So NATURALLY their economies are is a mess. The West have learned their lessons from WW2. Instead of fighting amongst themselves for COLONIES, they have apparently agreed on JOINT COLONIZXATION VENTURES, thus Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc. What better way to improve their scomies by attacking and occupying RESOURCE RICH countries, destroying their infrastructure, their weapons, etc, and then EXPLOITING those resources to their hearts content and gain RECONTRUCTION business and MARKETS for their goods.
NISHTHAR IDROOS (22 Nov, 2011)
It's very likely the war mongers will succeed. It affords the opportunity to cover up the shit hole the world has got into by courtesy of the impeccable leadership provided by Uncle Sam. The mess is irreversible; we all know it and an ordinary high school student can recognize it. The heightened activity in the Euro zone and the extensive globetrotting of world leaders alongside the divisive yet sombre negotiations taking place in the US bears ample testimony. They have not only precipitated impoverishment to their people but to vast sections of the world populace. If this is not enough they want greater excitement in terms of mayhem of diabolical proportions. Is this satanic or what. They have been able to successfully demonize the only peaceful religion of the world which noticeably impeded their progress. Islam can wait; yes Islam can certainly provide another round for Satan.
A world led by the Chinese or any other nation/s is unpalatable to the west hence a common playing field is necessary. It's now a prudent and opportune moment to look for scapegoats and unleash the sinister agenda. Let's go to war. It's very unlikely Barack Obama will aid the process, dumping him at the next election is not a problem to the actual rulers of the world. Soon rather than later more incriminating signs of the evil plots will emerge.
INTELLECTUAL MIND (22 Nov, 2011)
Fantastic Mr. Rasheed. This article is mind boggling. Its super to see Arab News getting such brainy and thought provoking articles. Its definitely the truth. Europe has a big problem. They dont tell it openly, but the debt related is eating up the complete European development. They truly have gathered alot wealth and resources in hideous ways one can even imagine. They still are stacked with loads of wealth but dont want to cough up that money to save the nations. They want the BRICS to help them out, the nations they once treated as Third world countries. Where has all the wealth gone down. We muslims have a nice saying " Wealth that comes in from evil and wrong ways, doesnt last too long" this is just whats happening.. In a recent article, the Euro has given a vague opportunity to India that if they open the markets to them, they are going to make it easy for the Indians to travel the Europe.
Hell, who now wants to go to Europe. This is yet another hideous policy of the Europeans where they want to make a meal of Indian resources, the customer base, the huge potential that India now has.
I just hope that India will not give in to these 'greyish' policy. India is a smart country, they have never ever got into the thongs of these Death Mongers and it will never. India is for Asians to come in and do huge business. But not US or Euro who would drain the resources and leave.
Its time to wake up and understand that , to save a shipwreck is a Suicide.
Once again , Oh so Fantastic article.
FAROOQ (22 Nov, 2011)
Really good article.
BERTRAND BESANCENOT, AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE TO SAUDI ARABIA (26 Nov, 2011)
Europe threatening the world?
It was with great amazement that I read, on the Opinion pages of your newspaper, an article by Mohamed Al Rashid entitled, “Europe threatening the world again” (Nov. 22).
The author loathes Europe — which is evident from his acerbic comments — and this is something he is perfectly entitled to do, even if I can only deplore that fact. However, what I find unacceptable is that he pours out an avalanche of spurious claims, omitting the truth either deliberately or through ignorance, and thus completely misleading the readers.
First of all, I think that nobody considers Europe a "threat" today. The author should be careful in using such excessive language.
Secondly, is he really being objective in accusing Europe of being responsible for all evils? Is the economic and financial crisis coming from Europe? The highest public debts in the world: Aren't they American and Japanese? The stalemate regarding the peace process in Palestine and the entire regional imbalance resulting from the war on Iraq: Were they Europe's doing? Were the Europeans alone in embracing Qaddafi? Is Europe responsible for the situation in Yemen? And so on.
All this lacks seriousness and does not reflect any intellectual honesty on the part of the author!
Moreover, what really strikes me is the "old thinking" in this article. Evidently, the author does not realize that the unipolar world is dead — definitely dead. The international order has become multipolar. All the world's problems and uncertainties have to be assessed and tackled collectively. France and Great Britain are not marginal or old-fashioned powers. Their role in the G20 in containing the financial crisis is unquestionable. Without them, Qaddafi would still be in power and bloodshed would not have been avoided in Benghazi. It is biased ignorance to claim that all that was for "oil, money and business"! As for the problems of the euro, without the determined intervention of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel, they would have been much more serious, wouldn't they?
The reality is that our multipolar world needs influential state actors that contribute to the world stability and to solving difficulties. France and Europe have a prominent, irreplaceable role to play in this regard.
Finally, let us keep things in perspective. The way European nations — at war with each other for centuries — cooperate today peacefully should be considered as a model for the rest of the world, certainly not a threat.