I’m not arguing that Europe doesn’t have the potential for being a force of good, I’m arguing that as of now, it’s simply not. The EU was formed not with peace and stability in mind, but with neoliberalism and anticommunism, otherwise it would have never adhered to NATO and participated in all its military campaigns, both informally (Afghanistan) and formally (Libya and Yugoslavia). If we want to praise a country/region for its peace in the past century, we should praise post-Vietnam-war China.
As a Spaniard (country which joined the European Community rather late), I can definitely confirm that it was pretty much explicit that joining NATO was a prerequisite to be accepted in the EU. The EU was born out of the Marshall Plan and of NATO.
I’m not arguing that Europe doesn’t have the potential for being a force of good, I’m arguing that as of now, it’s simply not. The EU was formed not with peace and stability in mind, but with neoliberalism and anticommunism, otherwise it would have never adhered to NATO and participated in all its military campaigns, both informally (Afghanistan) and formally (Libya and Yugoslavia). If we want to praise a country/region for its peace in the past century, we should praise post-Vietnam-war China.
The EU is not a NATO adherant/member. Many of the EU’s members are also NATO members, but not all.
As a Spaniard (country which joined the European Community rather late), I can definitely confirm that it was pretty much explicit that joining NATO was a prerequisite to be accepted in the EU. The EU was born out of the Marshall Plan and of NATO.