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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (41838)	9/4/2002 9:58:01 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 281500

Hi KLP - the sad but inescapable truth is the majority of intellectuals in Europe and the majority of people in the United States inhabit parallel but different worlds, psychologically and factually. In the European parallel world (and that of the Greens in the US), it is the United States is the cause of the ills of the world. We are the greatest polluter. Our pollution devastates the earth, e.g., the recent floods in Central Europe. We don't help the wretched of the earth, we exploit them. From Johannesburg: >>Powell Defends U.S. at World Summit JOHANNESBURG, South Africa –– Repeatedly interrupted by activists' jeers and protests, Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the United States' environmental record and its efforts to help the poor in the developing world at the World Summit on Wednesday. "The United States is taking action to meet environmental challenges, including global climate change," he said to loud booing from the rear of a hall filled with government leaders and delegates ranging from youth activists to environmentalists. The United States has been strongly criticized by leaders and activists here for President Bush's decision last year to reject the Kyoto Protocol, which many countries view as crucial for reversing a global warming trend blamed for cataclysmic storms, floods and droughts.<< More at: washingtonpost.com To me, the most interesting part of that survey was this: >>But a majority of Americans, 52 per cent, think that the US should remain the only world superpower, while 65 per cent of Europeans said that the European Union should become a superpower similar to the US. Only 33 per cent of Americans agreed.<< Very intriguing despite the great imprecision of language. What does superpower mean? From my perspective, the US is powerful because we were armed to the teeth against the Soviet union which, for whatever reason, imploded and broke down. We have been cutting our military but still are extremely strong, compared to other countries. And we do have technological advantages. So my question, which may be rhetorical, is, do the 65% of Europeans that want the EU to be a superpower mean that they want it to be a military superpower? This seems very strange to me because I thought (not completely, I am not that naive) that the EU was an economic union. I realize that many want it to evolve into something like our own United States, but did not realize it was as high as 65%. Something to ponder. If they really do want to become a superpower, they'd better get rid of 35 hour work weeks. In the US, powerful and productive people typically work more like 70 hours a week.