A future for the European Union?

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I continue to come across articles that warrant a view for those interested in this topic.

Does the EU have a future?

This article has a Euro-sceptic point of view, and supposes that the European Union will become more irrelevant as the shape of the world order and of the international system are taken into account.

The opinion of the state of the world in the 21st Century is made clear from the beginning, and I quote:

"Broadly speaking, the world is run at the outset of the 21st Century by the United States and China together in uneasy condominium. This is the surprising reality of our era. The pattern is unlikely to change much until India takes its full place, perhaps in 40 years."

This gives us an indication from the beginning of the tone that we can continue to expect. Pay attention to how the article believes that the economic crisis has essentially revived economic nationalism and the idea of "national needs first, European (EU) needs second."

We are also given, although in brief, an overview of the apparatus that the EU now has at its disposal, including a single currency, a Euro army, and a "foreign office" - referring to the diplomatic network of the EU. The article focuses on the Lisbon treaty towards the end........all themes that we will pick up on in class......

I thoroughly hope that you will feel a little "EU saturation" by the end of my class. Please feel free to comment on some of the issues raised in this blog, particularly on the ideas of balance of power and Europe´s future place in the world - what do you feel the author is really trying to say and would you agree with his views?

I encourage you to post comments and please send me a Webtec message to add your matricula to the label.

Thank you.