Is the EU a threat for the US?

[amadeus]

EU will only be a threat if EU wants it to be.

Corrected.

 

[Mirc]

Corrected.

Actually, the first version makes more sense this time.

 

[Bast]

Corrected.

Who is that man in your avatar?

 

[Ecofarm]

The EU will remain a quaint place with old roads and buildings. Somewhere to go for a relaxing vacation and perhaps purchase a summer home. Small resturants, small cars, and some of the most bizarre natives in the known world - commie pinko backward snobs. If by threat you mean "will the EU grow teeth, geopolitically speaking?" No. Like the UN, there simply are no teeth. Even economically, commodities are too divided by country to believe that an individual nation's economic policy is beyond US influence; the WTO will not recognize the EU as a legal trading bloc.

Unless, of course, you guys become one big country, with one big central government... the largest entitlement program in the history of man... go for it.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

The EU will remain a quaint place with old roads and buildings. Somewhere to go for a relaxing vacation and perhaps purchase a summer home. Small resturants, small cars, and some of the most bizarre natives in the known world - commie pinko backward snobs. If by threat you mean "will the EU grow teeth, geopolitically speaking?" No. Like the UN, there simply are no teeth. Even economically, commodities are too divided by country to believe that an individual nation's economic policy is beyond US influence; the WTO will not recognize the EU as a legal trading bloc.

Unless, of course, you guys become one big country, with one big central government... the largest entitlement program in the history of man... go for it.

you forgot your picture of an eagle to cap off that nationalistic BS.

 

[warpus]

 

[amadeus]

Who is that man in your avatar?

Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia.

 

[Gogf]

Well, I don't really see the EU as a military or diplomatic threat. You guys have traditionally been our allies, and you tend to be rather skeptical of military intervention.

 

[Norbert]

Anyone ever played Shattered Union? No, seriously, there is no conceivable scenario, other than perhaps a far-future Islamic takeover, in which I could see the EU being any sort of frightening threat to the US.

 

[Bronx Warlord]

Only if Winner beings breeding better and more intelligent warriors with Marla.

 

[bloodofages]

The US came from a European Countries the British Empire, and some other ones also, France, Spain, I think the EU could be a threat to the US, and yes the popluation of Europe is higher then the US.

 

[jeps]

If I said the EU isnt a threat to the EU, would europeans take it offensivley?

 

[Winner]

The EU will remain a quaint place with old roads and buildings. Somewhere to go for a relaxing vacation and perhaps purchase a summer home. Small resturants, small cars, and some of the most bizarre natives in the known world - commie pinko backward snobs.

Jeez, your arrogance is staggering.

If by threat you mean "will the EU grow teeth, geopolitically speaking?" No. Like the UN, there simply are no teeth. Even economically, commodities are too divided by country to believe that an individual nation's economic policy is beyond US influence; the WTO will not recognize the EU as a legal trading bloc.

Do a reality check. EU is represented as one bloc in the WTO. Trade policy is directed by the EU already, so you're wrong.

Unless, of course, you guys become one big country, with one big central government... the largest entitlement program in the history of man... go for it.

We don't need that. We need a federal government that will take care of matters of trans-national importance.

 

[Ecofarm]

Individual countries are accountable to the WTO. There are no special privilages, tariffs, or taxes permitted via membership to the EU. The WTO does not treat the EU as a single entity/bloc. Trade policy is the decision of individual countries (for example: GMO import and use). The EU does not set the price of potatoes in Sweden or the subsidy of rapeseed in England.

 

[dosed150]

economically the eu is already a threat to the usa, but not militarily most eu members pretty much have a mutual protection pact with the usa through NATO

 

[Red Threat]

I don't want to be part of a threat to the US supremacy. Even though my political/economic views are much different from the average American's ones, I recognize we are the most affine cultural areas of the world (if we can say that America has a "culture" apart from Hollywood and modern music) and we need to defend ourselves together from the totalitarian/neo-Confucian/anti-liberal uprising of China in the next decades (with the help of democratic/Indoeuropean India hopefully).

In the future moreover I think the US will not be able to handle the geopolitical problems alone (if they can now), the world evolves and new powers are growing, I see the two parts approaching each other. The US will have more and more immigration (especially from Latin America), this bringing social contrasts before or after if the growth of GNP will be bad distributed and not allined with an equal growth of per-capita GNP. In order to avoid it, or as a result of these contrasts, I think that US and EU economies will become more and more similar, in fact support of laissez-faire is very embedded in the American society but you have had FDR and you have had JFK and nobody knows how the future can be.

Regarding the EU political evolution, I see the way of further integration as possible in the future but slowly, maybe starting only from a little group of Euro-enthusiastic states as it was in the beginning (France, Germany, Italy and Benelux plus Spain and Portugal maybe). I am sure the way is not towards a federation in the classical meaning of the word but to a new kind of political entity with many levels of government we have never seen before, something looser surely.

Military power? I prefer that Americans spend their money to build and continuously innovate their oversized army in order to extend to Europe the effect of their deterrence over potential threats, so that we can better spend our money for social programs of health, education and welfare. I am sure most of Europeans would agree with me. Maybe in the future we'll see a little EU army of professional soldiers uncapable of defend any country from a WW2-styled mass invasion but able to effectively act in areas of crisis all over the world. However what I'd like to see, ideally (going with Immanuel Kant), is a strong "international police force" under the control of the UN.

 

[klazlo]

Military: no, the Eu will never be a threat to anybody. Member states will never agree on any joint military action
Population: even less so, the EU population is declining on the long run, and until immigrant integration is fixed, it's not gonna change. Aging is already a big burden.
Economy: threat? never. maybe a partner. much of the economy is global already anyway.

In a generation, the EU will be #4 after the US, India and China (the order of those three is undecided) if we think of global importance.

 

[sourboy]

the EU is going to gain enormously in power in 30 years. Is it so that the US is feeling threatened?

I think it isn't their intention to threaten the US so much, as they realize their mutual international voice holds more weight if they are united, let alone economically.

is China choice of allegiance maybe just the factor which will slam the scales of balance?

Potentially.

Are we evolving to a 3 superpower struggle?

US, EU, China, India, and Russia are all potential "next generation" superpowers. Any could be tripped up before then. As for a "struggle" -- it depends on who becomes a superpower. I don't see the EU and US doing anything more than disagreeing. The rest are all potentials for conflict vs any other.

Or is this all nothing and will the eu be hinderd?

Potentially.

what do you think if you would hear the EU is cranking up its military budget to the US level to take care of it's own affairs?

Good. They are a strong ally, and that will relieve pressure off the US, not to mention make a strong combined international voice verse common threats.