- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- world@lemmy.world
The promise made by EU foreign ministers on Monday not to take part in the war against Iran (“This is not our war”) lasted just three days. On Thursday, the heads of state and government of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and Japan issued a joint statement in which they pledged to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
The statement makes no mention whatsoever of the US and Israel, which attacked Iran 20 days ago in violation of international law and have been bombing it non-stop ever since. Instead, it blames the victim for the war and accuses Iran of breaking international law.
perhaps things would be different if they didn’t also rely on the same hegemonic ‘rules based international order’ for extraction of the global south’s resources, but for now they do. if anything, the west’s political classes are inwardly enthused at this fresh infusion of material for the load bearing pillar of their domestic politics, pointing at the us and saying ‘i’m sorry we can’t materially improve anything for you but at least we’re not like the americans!’
This seems pretty bad for European industry but I guess everyone with money has investments in the US.
certainly economically it’s not great in the short term and probably not over the long term either if
current trends continue but in their minds anyway they are playing the long game of betting on the continued existence of western hegemony and their privileged place in it because in their present frame of mind it’s the only option they have. the tenders of ‘the garden’ don’t see themselves collabing with venezuela and ghana to solve problems, they see themselves as dictating terms, and they don’t have the weight to do that without their violent idiot child and its pet rabid bulldog running rampant all over the place. it’s the same implicit threat that has always existed behind the ‘rules based order’, trump just takes the implicit and makes it explicit as a matter of course.
I think they (EU politicians with very few exceptions) are a bunch of cowards, maybe rightfully so, too scared to take any political position other than complacency with the US.