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The view from Arabia on political, social, economic, cultural and historic issues by Dr. Mohammad Talal Al-Rasheed
Europe threatening the world again
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22 Nov, 2011
Author: Dr. Mohammad T. Al-Rasheed
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
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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.
HASSAN
22 Nov, 2011
Kudos to Mohamed for a job well done, great article. Thank you.
COMMENT TITLE
May 1, 2011
Have you ever heard the Latin phrase "acta est fabula"? The meaning is easy enough. Acta is, of course, act and fabula means finished. So the 'Act is finished' is the translation. It was more of a proverb until the highly gifted French author
Monthly
03 May, 2012
I should think valor, dignity, human audacity should make these people somewhat timorous of hanging in there when the cycle of time says: withdraw.
Source: Published by Bahrain Confidential Magazine
Number of comments: 0
Published Monthly
03 Apr, 2012
The most immediate power, however, that you meet every day, is your immediate superior, be they a teacher at school, a boss at work, or even a step-mother at home.
Source: Bahrain Confidential Magazine
Number of comments: 0
Monthly by Bahrain Confidential Magazine
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If ever there was a hat in one's feather, or is it a feather in one's hat --one never knows dealing with French diplomacy-- this is it.
Source: Bahrain Confidentail Magazine
Number of comments: 0
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We know a lot about tyranny in this part of the world. We almost breathe it daily.
Source: Bahrain Confidentail Magazine
Number of comments: 0
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