Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Euro Space: A State of Mind by Mark Leonard

Euro Space: A State of Mind by Mark Leonard
Wired 11.06: Combine and Conquer
http://wired.com/wired/archive/11.06/euro_spc_pr.html
2003 June
   The European Union's obsession with legislation is usually taken as
a
   sign of weakness - a foil to the pyrotechnic might of the US
military
   machine. But take a closer look: The bureaucrats in Brussels have
been
   busy creating a new political space that has the power to make the
   21st century the European century. The EU's geographical expansion
to
   25 countries, which will grow to include a dozen smaller ones and
   maybe even Russia, is nothing compared with its increasing legal
and
   moral reach. The 80,000 pages of laws the EU has developed since
the
   common market was formed in 1957 - influencing everything from
genetic
   labeling to human rights - have made Europe the world's first viral
   political space, spreading its authority in three innovative ways.
   First, it spreads by stealth. Although the EU legislates up to half
of
   its member states' laws, most of their trade, and many policy
   decisions - from agriculture to economics - it's practically
   invisible. Take Britain. There are no European courts, legislative
   chambers, or business regulations on display in London. Instead,
just
   as a virus takes over a healthy cell, the EU operates through the
   shell of traditional political structures. The British House of
   Commons, British Law Courts, and British civil servants are still
   there, but they have all become covert agents of the EU. This is no
   accident. By creating common standards that are implemented through
   national institutions, Europe can take over the world without
becoming
   a target for hostility. While every US company, embassy, and
military
   base is a terrorist target, Europe's invisibility allows it to
spread
   its influence without provocation. Put bluntly, even if there were
   people angry enough to want to fly planes into European buildings,
   there is no World Trade Center to target.
   Second, the EU thrives on diversity. The former US Secretary of
State
   Henry Kissinger once complained that Europe doesn't have a single
   telephone number. When there's a crisis, Americans don't know who
to
   turn to as the authentic voice of opinion. This is because Europe
   possesses many centers of power. Even the splits between new and
old,
   and the accidental good cop/bad cop routine played by Britain and
   France, can be seen as a sign of the EU's strength. The ultimate
   failure of diplomacy leading up to the war on Iraq shows that the
EU
   is less powerful when it doesn't share a common vision of the
world,
   but even so, the multi-headed nature of the union did force the US
to
   take its case to the UN. The best way to understand how Europe
   functions is to look at a globally networked business like Visa. By
   sharing control widely, and by making it impossible for any single
   faction or institution to dominate, a networked business can
combine
   its global presence with innovation and diversity to gain the kind
of
   edge normally reserved for smaller entities. Visa, though it
   represents the largest single block of consumer spending power in
the
   world ($362.4 trillion annually), is a skeletal organization with
just
   a few thousand employees. The fact that Europe does not have one
   leader - but rather a network of centers of power united by common
   policies and goals - means that it can expand to accommodate
   ever-greater numbers of countries without collapsing, and continue
to
   provide its members with the benefits of being the largest market
in
   the world.
   Third, Europe "syndicates" its legislation and values, often by
   threatening others with economic isolation. Many governments
outside
   the continent have adopted Europe's regulations to get access to
its
   market. Even US companies have been forced to follow European
   regulations in at least three spheres: M&A, GM foods, and data
   privacy. But this model of passive aggression has had its most
   dramatic effect in the EU's backyard. Consider some of the dangers
   faced by both Europe and the US: drug trafficking, large flows of
   migrants across hard-to-police borders, transnational criminal
   networks. Europe encourages political and economic reform by
holding
   out the possibility of integration into the EU, and this strategy
has
   had more success than the swift military interventions of the
Monroe
   Doctrine. While the EU is deeply involved in Serbia's
reconstruction
   and supports its desire to be "rehabilitated" as a European state,
the
   US offers Colombia no such hope of integration through multilateral
   institutions or structural funds, only the temporary "assistance"
of
   American military training missions and aid, and the raw freedom of
   the US market.
   This new type of power means that Europe effects change from the
   inside out. By contrast, when the US engages other countries, it
does
   so through the prism of geopolitics. Talks with Russia focus on
   nuclear weapons, NATO expansion, and civilian control of the
military.
   Talks with Colombia look at the flow of drugs across its borders.
   Europeans start from the other end of the spectrum: What values
   underpin the state? What are its constitutional and regulatory
   frameworks? Turkey renounced the death penalty to further its
chance
   of admission into the EU; Britain rescinded its ban on gays in the
   military; and Italy reformed its profligate economic ways to meet
EU
   standards. Europe's obsession with legal frameworks means that it
can
   completely transform the countries it comes into contact with,
instead
   of just skimming the surface. The US might have changed the regime
in
   Afghanistan, but Europe is changing all of Polish society, from its
   economic policies and property laws to its treatment of minorities
and
   what gets served on the nation's tables.
   The overblown rhetoric directed at the "American Empire" misses the
   fact that the US reach is shallow and narrow. The lonely superpower
   can bribe, bully, or impose its will almost anywhere in the world -
   but when its back is turned, its potency wanes. The strength of the
   EU, conversely, is broad and deep: Once sucked into its sphere of
   influence, countries are changed forever. Europe is a state of mind
   that cannot be contained by traditional boundaries.
     _________________________________________________________________
   Mark Leonard (
ma...@fpc.org.uk
) is director of the Foreign Policy
   Centre and author of Network Europe.
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Gran bell'articolo mirco... Insomma l'Europa è un'entità statale che ingloba
i meccanismi delle reti.... Inosmma molti parlano di crisi del ruolo
dell'Europa senza considerare che l'organizzazione si espande e
probabilmente si espanderà gradualmente e continuamente acquisendo maggiore
forza...