GLOBAL POWER EUROPE: Expansion, Norfolk and Europe - by James Rogers
Expansion, Norfolk and Europe - by James Rogers
The European Union is surrounded by a region not so dissimilar, metaphorically speaking, to the natural environment of chaos and uncertainty that plagued mediaeval Europeans. And like that natural environment of the European past, the contemporary world beyond Europe will not be changed, and the threats which emanate from it will not be reduced, by our so-called ‘soft power’, or by shirking our duties and obligations to others. Regions and societies plagued with chaos and conflict will not be domesticated without the exercise of power, or more importantly the willingness to deploy power in the service of our interests. If axes, scythes and ploughs were the tools used to hack down and domesticate the thicket, then armed forces, peacekeepers and political will are the instruments needed to domesticate zones of chaos and turmoil. As Europeans, we must re-acquire the ‘will to power’, and stand firm in defending our collective interest. If we fail to do so, others will assert and expand their own interests, and as they grow in strength and confidence, we Europeans might also come under their sway, just as so many came under our sway in the past. Given the importance of Europe, that can be in nobody’s interest, especially those on the side of liberal democracy, justice and freedom.
