The Important Stuff - Peace and Security
I have recently been mulling over an argument I had with a colleague many years ago about whether the European Union had as its original goal economic development (him) or a peace and democracy (me). I remember it because it was heated, but perhaps also because some doubts lingered - peace and economic development are two sides of the same coin after all. At its inception, ensuring that France and Germany could never again go to war was the goal. But most of the tools towards that peace have been economic, and increasing the wealth of its members has been the main focus for decades. And so successful has the project been, that all-out war among the member states is now unthinkable.
But, rolling democracy and the rule of law out over the continent, and thus ensuring wider peace and stability in the world, has continued to be a central theme for the EU – extending membership to Greece, Spain and Portugal in the 80s, the central and eastern ex-Soviet block countries starting in 2004 and most recently a start on the Balkans. Now that they are comfortably in the fold, it’s easy to forget that these countries were very recently not democracies. Many were cynical about the EU winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 – they shouldn’t have been.
All this is very relevant to the current referendum debate where the emphasis has been almost exclusively on the EU’s role – good or bad – on the UK’s economic future. Not enough is being made of the world’s growing list of problems that are seriously threatening our peace and stability today: increasing nationalism and extremism, climate change, humongous wealth inequalities, a resurgent Russia, widespread war and instability in the Middle East, international terrorism, the biggest refugee crisis since World War II and – of course – continuing economic problems.
It is understandable that a dangerous world makes people think closing the doors and looking inward will make us safer (it is a common sentiment), and this is fueling the Brexit camp. But they are wrong. Such global problems need collective action and the UK cannot deal with them alone – they cannot be kept out for long by any doors, fences or walls... Parallels with the 1930s may be exaggerated but there are some echoes. The EU was invented to deal with such challenges - if the UK leaves, both will be weakened and the ability to address them lessened.
Brexiters have highlighted Norway and Switzerland as examples of how successful we could be outside the EU. True, they are rich (and even happy if the UN is to be believed), but our history, size and diversity makes it impossible – indeed laughable - to compare us. We have always played a leadership role in the world (for good and also for bad), and pulling out now would unbalance global governance and let down our allies. The US has made it clear they want us to stay in the EU. If we do not, our special relationship would be seriously weakened – with American deepening its ties with Germany and France instead.
The Ukraine crisis and Russian annexation of Crimea have surely silenced any who would claim that there are no longer threats to peace in Europe. Russia sees the EU as a threat and would benefit from its break-up. Russian links with extremist and anti-EU parties in some EU countries is now the subject of an official US intelligence inquiry and Russian bank funding of the National Front in France is well documented. Putin’s intervention in Syria and its targeting of civilian populations – with less focus on Isis – has vastly worsened the European refugee crisis and consequently destabilized the EU. Brexiters point out that we have NATO as a last resort against the unthinkable, but it is the EU that has and can continue to prevent the deterioration which could result in the need for military solutions.
The EU is also vital in preventing countries inside the block from wavering from democracy and the rule of law. Currently in Poland, a right wing nationalist government is chipping away at the constitutional checks and balances that Poland’s supreme court has on its government. The European Commission is investigating the allegations and negotiating to prevent a threat to Polish democracy. The European Parliament has highlighted similar threats to the rule of law and democracy in Hungary. Weakening the EU at this moment, will harm the ability to deal with these problems.
A friend recently told me she was going to vote Brexit. When I rehearsed the above argument about the potential threats to our security, she said she didn’t like ‘all the EU rules’ and that she’d ‘take the risk’. I’ve been mulling over that conversation too and thinking how quickly the prosperity and security that economic development has delivered, dulls the memory of where Europe and the world has been in the past.
