In the context of the recent Russian incursion into Georgia, it might be interesting to draw some parallels between two European giants, both of whom have lost a war. One of them lost a Cold War and the other a real one.
Naturally I am speaking of Germany and Russia. These two have quite a good relationship between them. They are dependent on one another and their resources flow in each others direction. These two countries matter a lot on the European stage. Both Germany and Russia have vied for power and influence in Central and Eastern Europe for centuries. They have both failed and succeeded.
In cultural terms they succeeded (Germany more than Russia), in political terms they failed, as pretty much everybody is independent in Central Europe nowadays. In the 1990s, after Russia lost its war, Germany hoped that Russia could be integrated into Europe, just as it had integrated in the 1950s. This is why it pursued the policy of so-called engagement. It was a mix of both hope and economic reasoning.
But Russia could not be turned into a normal country like Germany. It never recovered from its hundreds of years of despotism and imperialism. Thanks to the EU, Germany is now integrated safely into Europe. Peace in Europe would not be possible without the EU and its post-modernist international ideology.
The EU has been a success in channeling Germany into a major economic power. But economy doesn't really matter half as much as the military might of rockets and tanks. Therefore Germany, and Europe, is no match for Russia.
Germany lost a REAL war, not just a cold one, it and therefore the whole subcontinent has no strength. Europe also has no moral value any more (in terms of being a champion of human rights, democracy etc), as in a multi-ideological, meaning an ideology-free relativist environment, there is no regard to anything really. Freedom of speech is protected as much as censorship.
Mihkel Mesta
Tallinn, Estonia
