They think that America is a far more reliable
sponsor of their long-term safety and prosperity than the fractured
European "Union".
Their dislike of what they regard as America's lightweight leadership
and overt - and suspect - belligerence notwithstanding, the central and
east Europeans are grateful to the United States for its unflinching -
and spectacularly successful - confrontation with communism.
France and Germany - entangled in entente and Ostpolitik, respectively
- cozied up to the Kremlin, partly driven by their Euro-communist
parties. So did Italy. While the Europeans were busy kowtowing to a
repressive USSR and castigating the USA for its warmongering, America
has liberated the Soviet satellites and bankrolled their painful and
protracted transition.
Historical debts aside, America is a suzerain and, as such, it is
irresistible. Succumbing to the will of a Big Power is the rule in east
and central Europe. The nations of the region have mentally substituted
the United States for the Soviet Union as far as geopolitics are
concerned. Brussels took the place of Moscow with regards to economic
issues. The Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, assorted Balkanians, even the
Balts - have merely switched empires.
There are other reasons for these countries' pro-Americanism.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25