European Summer University (1) European Perspectives - from US and Africa
Blogging from the European Summer University of Attac: Here Susan George just has been speaking: Born american, but living in France and convinced European now. She said: Europe is the best and the worst. We have the enlightenment tradition, freedom of speech, relative social security compared to other continents, and the worst as there is no continent where so many have been slaughtered, both in colonialism and in wars against each other. Where will Europe go compared to the US? The current European Defense Council wants to reduce us to the level of the United States. With the plan to raise the defense budget without mentioning who to defend against, who the enemy might be. The idea, it seems, is to raise a european military budget of 42 billion Euros with equivalent cuts in social and educational spending as soon as federal cash runs low.
Europe as the "benevolent empire" that Baroso and others spoke of? Juergen Walter of the Initiative for Militarization is not convinced. The most fundamental critizism comes from Dot Keet from the Alternative Information and Development Centre, a zimbabwean living in South Africa and bringing an african perspective which is less flattering than that of a US-citizen-turned-european. Her objective is that Europa should not fall back to some cosy vision of a social democratic Europa which was living on colonial subsidies and wants to do tthis again based on the new Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
Interesting talks and discussions, which I will try to comment on in more detail later.
X-posted to irascignavojo