A lot has been mentioned about the decline of Europe. Well it is all true. Whether it is reversible will be seen in a few days. The Russian invasion of Georgia--how else can you put it--can be responded to by the Europeans in one of two ways. It could be a wake-up call that the cold war may not be over and the Russians are not the nice guys they were made up to be. This reaction would entail instantaneous membership in NATO and the EU for Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and anyone else in Europe who feels threatened by the Bear. It could also mean agreeing to dismember Russia from the G-8, boycotting membership into the WTO for Russia, sanctions against Russia and a renewed military awareness for Europe. It could mean reviewing their energy options and pursuing other energy alternatives to make their reliance on Russian energy negligible. And it could mean in the long run renewed and friendlier ties with America and joint military and economic decisions.
Or it could be bury their heads in the sand, pretend it did not happen, hope the bully will go away, rationalize their behavior by saying Georgia is not of significance to Europe, and go about their decadent lives hoping to survive, thrive, another year or two until another crisis jolts them.
Which will they respond? ALl my inner bones hope the former. All of recent history hints at the latter. Let us for future sake hope they choose the right course
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