Challenges To Superpower Hegemony
Micah Abaya
Western European Defiance
- Charles de Gaulle dreamed of a Europe that could be a third force in world affairs
- Regarded the less important US authority and unqualified support for US global objectives
- France could never regain its superior power once as a continental and imperial power
- Nuclear confrontation between superpowers could engulf Europe by virtue of its alliance with the US
- De Gaulle questioned US credibility of defending Europe against a Soviet attack
- 1963 the French government denied a nuclear test ban treaty that was signed by the Soviet Union, US, Great Britain, and was recognized by the Communist People's of the Republic of China
- However it meant the disengagement of the US dominated NATO and development of in independent strike force
- In 1964 the French detonated an atomic bomb in the Sahara Desert which became the latter realistic proposition
- Four years later they built up a military a nuclear delivery system having long range bombers and land - and submarine - based missiles
- The force de frappe or nuclear strike force failed to convince the Europeans to leave under the US's protective hands
- By this time when Gaulle left office in 1969 is grand design for France and Europe had disappeared
The European Community
- Components of European independence directed their energy to promoting economic growth and integration for a politically united Europe
- March of 1957 six representatives from six different countries- France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg signed the Treaty of Rome, which made the European Economic Community which was renamed the European Community in 1967
- The dismantling of tariffs and other barriers to free trade was the heart of this community
- Political institutions facilitated the long-range goal of European political integration (Council of Ministers)
- The culmination in the Maastricht Treaty of 1993 established the European Union
- Economic integration paid dividends later on
- EC became and evolved into an formidable economic bloc
- The combined national gross product of the EC and standard living first approached and surpassed those of the US
- Flourishing Europeans questioned the synchronizing of foreign and defense policies with the US global strategies
- Economic relationship of Europe and the US prompted the change in their political relationships, which is ultimately a change in European independence
- The Arab-Israeli War illustrated Europe's confidence when all members of NATO except Portugal denied lading rights to US planes carrying arms to Israel
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