Beyond "NATO's brain death" headline, @EmmanuelMacron's assessment of Europe's geopolitical situation is articulated and revolves around the following, indisputable facts:
economist.com/europe/2019/11…👇🏽 1/9
economist.com/europe/2019/11…👇🏽 1/9
The EU was conceived as a political project but over time it has been considered chiefly as an economic market. This has gone hand in hand with the belief in the ever-more pacifying effect of free trade and the accompanying spread of democracy. 2/9
This trend has halted, and Europeans have a hard time grappling with this reality. The rise of authoritarianism includes Turkey, which is a NATO ally. Erdogan, together with Trump, are causing a “strategic and political problem” for NATO, most recently exemplified in Syria. 3/9
NATO is very useful for interoperability and serves as a basis for military coalitions. But allies need to rethink what the objectives of NATO are, and its geopolitical project, especially as Trump says to Europe “It’s your neighborhood, not mine”. 4/9
Meanwhile, there is a risk of a bipolarisation of the world around the US-China opposition, and Europe risks being marginalized. 5/9
EU member states risk losing (collective) sovereignty in areas that are becoming increasingly important economically, socially and politically: sensitive technology (5G) and data. Europe needs to be able to ensure the security of its systems e.g. thanks to Ericsson and Nokia. 6/9
Especially as most European countries today have weak governments and/or are facing social or political crises, which increases the risk of European disunity and retrenchment, eventually leading to a geopolitical disappearance. 7/9
Not all Europeans are convinced of the need to think past the “End of history” and more in a “realpolitik” fashion. Yet they must defend European sovereignty and the values of Enlightenment and can only do so if they have control over certain means. cf. all the above points. 8/9
We can disagree on the solution (e.g. whether the Macron method or language are appropriate responses), but facts are facts. 9/9
Follow-up: @EmmanuelMacron often says "I accept that Trump/Poutine, as leader of a sovereign nation is defending his interests, not ours". 1) Speaks a language similar to them, 2) Allows him to push same agenda for sovereign France/Europe, 3) Makes cooperation/compromise harder.
