Sunday 15 May 2016

EU v NATO as peace-keeper

Molly Scott Cato writes in the New Statesman blog firmly giving all the credit to the European Union and its predecessors for keeping the peace in Europe since the second world war. Jonathan Fryer is more equivocal:

One can argue until the cows come home whether it was NATO or what is now called the European Union was more responsible for underpinning peace in Europe. If we are honest, it was a bit of both, but even more there was a feeling after the horrors of World War II: Never Again.

I am with JF. NATO almost certainly saved western Europe from Soviet expansionism and was therefore necessary. However, the EEC/EC/EU in its various namings was just as essential in keeping the peace within Europe. Greece and Cyprus present good evidence in support of this assertion.


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