Congrats, United States of Europe!

[Halo]

Congratulations to the United States of Europe.  Just finishing T.R. Reid's chronicle of united European accomplishments, his 2004 book called The United States of Europe -- the New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy.

Essentially he concludes:

"... the planet has a second superpower now, and ... its global influence will continue to increase as the world moves toward a bipolar balance of economic, political, and diplomatic authority."

Excellent compilation of contemporary European achievements (e.g., the euro) that have been mounting up individually until now the subcontinent is finally beginning to function as a collective entity in many situations.  

Enjoy the book from your local bookstore or library.

[Masherbrum]

No thanks, I think I'll take my morning watermelon now.

Karaya

[ra]

"... the planet has a second superpower now, and ... its global influence will continue to increase as the world moves toward a bipolar balance of economic, political, and diplomatic authority."

It's in a book, it must be true.

[Saintaw]

Congratulations + Europe + HTC BBS.

Parse error on line 1, terminate program.

We all smell bad, have broken teeth, drink wine all day and never work... what else will you expect.

[Neubob]

In other news, the existance of a heavily populated, economically-significant landmass in Asia is confirmed.

Anthropologists from Oxford, when questioned as to what this landmass will be named, say they cannot be certain as of yet, but are leaning towards calling this still enigmatic region 'China'.

More news to follow.

As for Europe... Well, congrats on the Euro and all, but I think their accomplishments in the area of seamlessly incorporating Anti-Semitism into their rich and eclectic cultural identity should not be overlooked when awarding accolades.

Yeah! That's right! Take that silly book-writer man!

[Stringer]

Originally posted by Saintaw
Congratulations + Europe + HTC BBS.

Parse error on line 1, terminate program.

We all smell bad, have broken teeth, drink wine all day and never work... what else will you expect.

And your Beer Museums are closed on Saturdays!!:mad:

[Saintaw]

Originally posted by Stringer
And your Beer Museums are closed on Saturdays!!:mad:

Yes! BOMB YUR0P!!!  

[Scaevola]

Keep an eye on the Belgians, they're going to take over the world when no one is looking.

[Scaevola]

With Luxembourg providing Tea and Sandwiches.

[Dead Man Flying]

Until the European Union can act as a cohesive political, economic, and military unit, it will not achieve "superpower" status as we know it.  

For example, the amount of taxes collected by the American federal government far eclipses that of any single state.  About 19% of this tax money then goes into military spending, another 19% on discretionary spending, and close to 50% goes into social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

I ask this in all honesty... can Europeans on this board truly envision a day where a unified EU governmental body supersedes the power of the individual countries?  Will this body alone determine if the EU goes to war regardless of the wishes of its constituents?  If the EU decided to send EU troops comprised of all member nations into Iraq, would EU member nations support this action despite fundamentally disagreeing with it?

There's more to being a superpower than economics alone.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[Gh0stFT]

I can also suggest the Book from Jeremy Ripotato peelin: "The Europen Dream".


"...The European Union’s $10.5 trillion GDP now eclipses the United States’, making it the largest economy in the world._ The EU is already the world’s leading exporter and largest internal trading market. Moreover, much of Europe enjoys a longer life span and greater literacy, and has less poverty and crime, less blight and sprawl, longer vacations, and shorter commutes to work than we do in the United States._ When one considers what makes a people great and what constitutes a better way of life, observes Ripotato peelin, Europe is beginning to surpass America."

Read more here:
The European Dream

R
Gh0stFT

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Neubob
As for Europe... Well, congrats on the Euro and all, but I think their accomplishments in the area of seamlessly incorporating Anti-Semitism into their rich and eclectic cultural identity should not be overlooked when awarding accolades.

oh my

[Toad]

Originally posted by Gh0stFT
I  and shorter commutes to work than we do in the United States

Gh0stFT

Well, Duh!

I've got a lot of friends over there that think a 2 hour drive is going a long way.

From right here, that's not even half way across Kansas and only 1/5th of the way to the Colorado ski slopes.

I think the perception of distance is quite different when your country is 3000 miles across rather than 300.

[Dowding]

I ask this in all honesty... can Europeans on this board truly envision a day where a unified EU governmental body supersedes the power of the individual countries?

The EU already passes laws which the member governments have to abide by in every court in the judiciary. The only way to not abide by this legislature is to repeal the act of parliament that joined the UK with the EU, for instance.

Politically it won't be possible for many generations.

Neubob:

As for Europe... Well, congrats on the Euro and all, but I think their accomplishments in the area of seamlessly incorporating Anti-Semitism into their rich and eclectic cultural identity should not be overlooked when awarding accolades. [/b]

You are truly an enlightened individual. Congratulations Euro-stalker!

[NUKE]

Originally posted by Dowding
The EU already passes laws which the member governments have to abide by in every court in the judiciary. The only way to not abide by this legislature is to repeal the act of parliament that joined the UK with the EU, for instance.

Politically it won't be possible for many generations.

Did I ever mention that I feel the EU will be the cause of a major war in Europe?

I envision a day when the EU does have authority over the indivual states. It's not hard to figure what can happen from there.

For instance, a state wants to leave the EU and maybe the EU feels that state needs to stay.