Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Jan 2, 2008, at 9:13 AM, Dwayne Monroe wrote:
>
> > The EU's failure to derail War Plan Iraq is not evidence of Europe's
> > inability to "do what it wants". It's an example of Washington's
> > refusal to listen to counsel. These are two different things.
>
> It could be that, despite all their occasional huffing and puffing,
> that the European elite is happy to stand aside and have the U.S. act
> as the world's tough guy. They get the global hierarchy enforced, yet
> get the opportunity to seem all high-minded. Canada too.
"Washington's refusal to listen to counsel" is an index to "Washington's _power_ not to listen." If (purely as a hypotethical example) the EU had a real military, and that military had relations to Syria, including a large EU military contingent in Syria, THEN Washington would have no choice but to listen. So those two different things are in fact one thing with two names.
Doug is right about enforcement. Capitalism can only flourish _within_ a nation state. The days of _direct_ colonial control are long gone, so capitalists must depend on scores of different states to maintain the right 'atmosphere' for capital (control of labor, etc). Hence the need to fight "demonstration wars" to remind all those mini-states of their duties, and what might happen to them if they strayed.
There is one way, however, in which the EU has _definitely_ caught up with the U.S. -- in the viciousness of its racism. And migrants are probably treated far worse in Europe than in the U.S. Does anyone on this list have some detailed knowledge of the treatment of Turkish workers in Germany?
Carrol