If Europe doesn’t get its shit together, its going to get carved up by China, Russia and the US
And Europe’s far right parties are willing to do the job for them.
By the 1980s it was recognised that European companies couldn’t compete with American and Asian ones.
The US was a huge market – and companies there could develop scales of economy – which they could then use to out price European ones.
And Asia was creating is own large markets too – allowing Asian companies to do the same.
So European countries – pressurised by European companies – set about using and developing a common European market – across which European companies could spread and grow – using the European markets as a platform for competing on a worldwide stage.
In those days – the principal concern was economic.
But now – clearly – with US, Russia and China – seeing the world as their’s for the taking – the threat is not just economic, but also military and cultural.
Putin wants to eat Europe
Putin has long sought to break up the EU, says George Monbiot, using the European far right as his proxies: this is why he invested so heavily in Brexit.
Tony Blair has been warning us about this for years – he said if the EU doesn’t stick together – and if Britain isn’t in the EU – Britain will get sat on (by China perhaps)
In 2012 Blair said
Power is shifting west to east. China has emerged finally, with its economy opening up which will grow eventually to be the world’s largest. Its population is three times that of the whole of the EU. India has over a billion people. Brazil is two times the size of the largest European country, Indonesia three times and there are a host of countries including Russia, Turkey, Mexico, Vietnam, the Philippines and Egypt larger today than any single EU nation.
Or perhaps it joins Trump’s authoritarian far-right ‘democracy dead as a dodo’ Putineseque States?
Donald Bump, has shifted his allegiances to Russia and China
Potentially.
Its not clear that he wants to do a deal with China – but then maybe he does.
He certainly seems more inclined to do a deal with Russia.
George Monbiot reported on 24 February 2025, the UN general assembly voted on a Ukrainian resolution, co-sponsored by the UK and other European nations, condemning Russia’s invasion. Unsurprisingly, Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Hungary and several small and easily cowed states voted against it. But so did the US and Israel.
And much less keen on Europe. Threatening to take Greenland.
His contention is that Europe, like Japan, like Korea, is getting the benefit of US defence, at super low-cost
But he forgets to add – US stopped Germany and Japan from re-arming in WW II – and having US army there is a form of political control.
But now its almost as if he wants protection money – or just to get out of these places.
One way or the other – and whatever spin he puts on it – people voted for his manifesto to shift US allegiances.
Germany seems to have woken up to this reality
In February 2025, the new chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, said that his priority was to create unity in Europe as quickly as possible, “so that, step by step, we can achieve independence from the US”. Germany was under “massive pressure from two sides” Merz said, warning that it was unclear whether, by the Nato summit in June, “we will still be talking about Nato in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defence capability much more quickly”.
But how the hell is he going to ‘unite Europe’?
Europe – like the whole world – is undergoing a social cultural transformation – of its hive – mass mind – thanks to people’s absorption with the big US and China social media companies – whose messages and world view – are being funded and created by the Russian and Chinese state – and capitalist backed far right movements and interests.
Uniting Europe would require a firewall – from Facebook – from X – from Instagram.
Is it too late? Has the horse already bolted?
Plenty of Brits would quite willingly vote to become the next state of the United States
British culture has always been heavily influenced by American culture and values. If we had to join a bigger beast, most would go for the States.
But what if, asks George Monbiot, the US becomes our enemy?
He points out that the US already controls a huge amount of our weapons systems. He points out the US has a dozen air bases in the UK. And he says that among the crucial components of our defence are F-35 stealth jets, designed and patented in the US. How stealthy they will turn out to be, when the US has the specs, the serial numbers and the software, is a question that needs an urgent answer.
He adds through the “Five Eyes” partnership, the UK automatically shares signals intelligence, human intelligence and defence intelligence with the US government.
France says Monbiot have a military system that is more independent of the US.