EU...Major Power or not?

[BronzePlaque]

What do you guys think about it? Please make your comments considering both economic and military strength, capability of effecting world politics, raw material production, resources, manpower...

I know there are many good strategists here and i would like to have their feedbacks on this issue...

 

[Todjaeger]

What do you guys think about it? Please make your comments considering both economic and military strength, capability of effecting world politics, raw material production, resources, manpower...

I know there are many good strategists here and i would like to have their feedbacks on this issue...

In terms of the EU being a "major power" or not, IMO it is/they are NOT a major power. My reason for having this opinion is that there is still (again IMO) a lack of overall unity within the EU itself. The EU is itself still essentially an economic bloc, but is still a collection of member-states. As such while considerable progress has been made in terms of the easing of border crossing and migration within the EU, there are still (some) different goals in terms of economic, diplomatic, social and military objectives.

The potential for the EU to be a major power is absolutely there, particularly since several current members of the EU are already themselves major powers namely France, Germany and the UK. The addition of ~two dozen other member-states, and the aggregate totals in terms of population, national resources, industrial capacity and technological base would IMO be sufficient to reach "superpower" status.

In order for that to happen though, it is likely that the various national identities would need to become less important, i.e. instead of someone responding, "I am British," or "I am French," if asked where they were from, they would need to respond, "I am European."

-Cheers

 

[GermanHerman]

In terms of the EU being a "major power" or not, IMO it is/they are NOT a major power. My reason for having this opinion is that there is still (again IMO) a lack of overall unity within the EU itself.

It's not only your opinion, it's the common opinion in the whole of the EU.
We are very aware of this, maybe more than people outside the EU.

But on Topic:

Actualy the EU is work-in-progress Project and is far away from beeing anything like a unified european super-state with one leader and one voice etc so you can't compare it with already fully developed nations (it's not even clear IF the eu will ever be like this) and that for you asked the wrong question.

You should have asked if the EU has the potential to become a super / major power.

And the answer on that is pretty clear, because like Todjäger already said: We have everything a super power needs: nuclear weapons, advanced armys and powerfull economics plus enough man power etc. pp... we just miss the most important thing: real unity.

 

[justone]

You should have asked if the EU has the potential to become a super / major power.

And the answer on that is pretty clear, because like Todjäger already said: We have everything a super power needs: nuclear weapons, advanced armys and powerfull economics plus enough man power etc. pp... we just miss the most important thing: real unity.

You pretty much sum it up with that word UNITY!! Everything is in place to be a super power . Did the European ever consider a federation somelike the United States have in place. That all they need to become a superpower is to becomeThe United States of Europe

 

[Todjaeger]

You pretty much sum it up with that word UNITY!! Everything is in place to be a super power . Did the European ever consider a federation somelike the United States have in place. That all they need to become a superpower is to becomeThe United States of Europe

The idea of a unified Europe has certainly occurred before, just look at history...

The problem is that different countries/leaders all wanted to be the ones "in charge" which did not necessarily sit too well with the other countries and leaders. AFAIK, aside from brief periods during WWII and the Napoleonic Wars, Europe has not been under unified leadership since the division of the Roman Empire into the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.

Each nation within the EU has its own national identity, as in many cases its own cultural identity, though some neighboring countries share common or similar cultural identity. Germany and Austria being one example, or the Scandinavian/Nordic countries being another. In most cases, essentially those except where there is a common cultural heritage, the nations' have their own distinct languages. While this does help to distinguish the different cultural and historical identities, it also makes the idea of unification somewhat problematic. In order for there to be some form of unity, there would need to largely be a common language or set of languages, which then raises the entire question of whose/which language(s) would be chosen. And that puts one back to the question of each nation/leader wanting to be the one in charge...

The only solution to a situation like that which comes to mind would be for linguists within the EU to get together and collectively artificically create a language, but such a concept and the implications of which are well outside the scope of defence discussions here at DT.

-Cheers

 

[GermanHerman]

Did the European ever consider a federation somelike the United States have in place.

Once again Todjäger nailed it pretty much but we also should keep in mind that the european countrys didn't formed the EU to become a super power and gain strenght but to ensure the peace on the european sub - continent.

Also remember what happend to other multiracial states like austria-ungary or look at what is happening in belgium right now.

In order for there to be some form of unity, there would need to largely be a common language or set of languages, which then raises the entire question of whose/which language(s) would be chosen.

Well at least in that point we are one step ahead... the languages used on the administrational level of the EU are:

English, French, German.