European Union Evolution: Collaborations and Challenges

1. Chapter 5Collaborations and Disaffections (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

2. The European Union • The European Coal & Steel Community (1951, 6 countries) has grown to the EU (28 countries) • Four freedoms: • Freedom of movement for goods, services, people, and capital • Stages of collaboration: • Free trade area • Custom union • Common market • Monetary union (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

3. Map of the EU (Source: BBC) (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

4. The European Union • 19 countries subscribed to a closer economic entity • A monetary union with a common currency – “Euro” • Problems caused to the group by weaker economies • Eg., Greece, Italy, and Portugal • Is monetary union possible without a fiscal union? • The failed constitution effort was part of a march towards a political union (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

5. EU Challenges • BREXIT • Managing UK’s exit and post-exit status • Admitting Turkey • Long wait to join raises question of acceptance and EU identity • Rethinking extent of centralization of decision making within the EU (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

6. The European Union – Lessons Learnt • The ability to resolve differences through negotiations and compromises • Transparency of the process of collaboration • Referendums and parliamentary approvals give people voice • Need for patience when the leadership subscribes to a larger vision • Nobel Prize for Peace (2012) (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

7. National and Other Identities • The dissolution of the USSR contrasts the collaboration within the EU • 15 republics, all subscribing to one-party rule, central planning, nationalized industries • Initial economic and scientific achievements • A union held by force – communist ideology • Policies of Glasnost and Perestroika • Weaknesses in economic structure • Individual motivations suffered under communism • No common identity in the union (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

8. Former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

9. Independence • Desire for independence • Economic, political and cultural disaffection • Desire to collaborate versus a desire to be separate • Role of identity • Violent and non-violent efforts (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

10. Definitions • State / Country: Is a political entity. • Nation: Is a cultural entity. Examples: The Kurds and Native Americans are nations without a state. Iraq is a state with many nations. • Patriotism: Is love of one’s country. • Nationalism: Is a stronger feeling of placing one’s country above all others. A feeling of national pride is not the same as being nationalistic, it is a prerequisite. (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

11. Terrorism • Nationalism and independence movements • What binds nations together? • Terrorist groups essentially use terror (a combination of violence, fear, and disruption to civic life) to achieve their ends. • Support for movements comes from within and without. • Is a terrorist the same as a freedom fighter? (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

12. Guiding principles (Westphalia, 1648) • Principles that we now take for granted and that guide the existence and relationships between European nations: • Recognition of the existence of territorial sovereign states, without the need for a superior authority. • Accepting that the states would settle their differences through the use of force, as and when necessary, between themselves without involving others. • Individual states would make their own laws and settle disputes. • Cross-border wrongful acts are a private matter only concerning those affected. • Do these still apply? (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

13. Migration • Moving from country of origin to live and work in another • Temporary or permanent • Push versus pull factors • Forced or voluntary • Refugees (asylum seekers) or economic migrants • Mass migration to Europe and its implications • Like an onion, identities seem like layers on an individual • Remittances – a large source of funding for many countries (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

14. Migration • In earlier times, immigration arose mostly out of religious and political persecution • Now, mostly wars, poverty • The country that receives immigrants benefits from the skills and contributions of the people • Is migration a “brain drain” or a “brain bank”? (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

15. Disaffections and Democracy • The greatest threat to a nation today is not an avaricious neighbor but non-state groups that use violent means to achieve some political, territorial, religious, or ideological objectives. • The cause for the disaffection may arise as they seek to correct the perceived wrongs of history or demand rights denied to them as minorities. Their sense of powerlessness often results from political marginalization. (c) C. Gopinath, 2018

16. Disaffections and Democracy • The great threats to a nation today: • From non-state groups using violent means to achieve political, territorial, religious, or ideological objectives. • Disaffected minorities within • Perceived wrongs of history • Demanding rights denied to them as minorities • Sense of powerlessness due to political marginalization • Democracy seen as a solution by giving voice • People’s participation needs to go beyond voting in an election • Military coups subvert weak democracies • US as an ‘evolving democracy’ – continues to evolve (c) C. Gopinath, 2018