A primary analysis of Brussels attacks
- By Sumantra Maitra
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 23, 2016
Europeans are clueless and want the best of everything
The main problem with Europe and the EU is that they want everything to be good without making any sacrifices. They want to have a liberal order, based on human rights, while neglecting the harsh realities of the world. They want to spread democracy in places that are historically sectarian and culturally divided, often by force and military. Europe wants to have complete freedom when it comes to social media and intelligence gathering but then blames the governments for not preventing a terror attack. They think Assad, Russia, and ISIS are all equally threatening, and seem to have forgotten the benefits of tactical alliance. Most importantly, they seem to forget that this is a Middle Eastern version of the Thirty Years' War and there won't be any easy answers to this set of complex geo-political questions.
Europe is going to be harsher in future
It is yet to be seen how Europe reacts to these recent attacks, but whatever the cost is, the solutions are not going to be good. There are signs that Europe is going back to a more realist mindset, with grudging acceptance of Turkey and Russia as partners while they put a human rights based foreign policy under the carpet and realize that open borders has led to madness and backlash and the rise of a much larger threat in Europe: ultra-nationalism and far right parties. The response to the attacks in Paris was a closure of European borders; the results of this attack might go even further in solidifying anti-Muslim sentiment, a Brexit, and the eventual disintegration of the EU itself.
Sumantra Maitra is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:
http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm
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