Bart M. J. Szewczyk

Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del autor incorporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de diciembre de 2006. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and a Ukrainian soldier stand at a mass grave in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 8, 2022. Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad

Ever since it was first proposed in the 1950s, the idea of a European army has not gone anywhere, but it keeps rearing its ineffectual head. Now, as Europe faces the urgent need to boost its defenses against a neo-imperialist Russia seeking to reshape the continent’s post-Cold War order through war, the idea of a joint military is once again swirling around European capitals. With the European Union’s recently released defense industrial strategy and plan to appoint a European commissioner for defense, one might conclude that the idea of an EU military and defense policy could finally take off. But as in the past, this is a dead end.…  Seguir leyendo »

French President Emmanuel Macron is interviewed by French television host Caroline Roux in Paris on Oct. 12, 2022. LUDOVIC MARIN/FRANCE TELEVISIONS/AFP via Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad, , ,

As the defense ministers of NATO and other nations met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, today and tried to resolve their divisions over supplying Ukraine with the heavy weapons it needs to drive Russian forces out of its territory, it’s clear that there are very different visions of the end state of the war and the region’s future. Among European countries, especially, there are stark differences about long-term policy toward Russia. There are now at least three camps of thought competing for Europe’s strategic center of gravity.

The first camp seems to believe it can turn back the clock when the war is over.…  Seguir leyendo »

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stand in front of the Brandenburg Gate, illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, in Berlin on May 9. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate

Russia’s war in Ukraine, Europe’s military weakness, and the United States’ outsized role in the Western response have led many officials and observers to conclude that now is finally the time to ensure Europe can defend itself—and become an autonomous strategic actor. Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz joined the chorus calling for a “stronger, more sovereign, geopolitical European Union”. Claiming that Washington’s focus has shifted to competition with China in the Indo-Pacific, he concluded that “Europe is our future”.

In theory, the logic of European strategic autonomy is attractive. After all, the European Union has almost 450 million people, a GDP of $18 trillion, and more $200 billion in defense spending by its member countries.…  Seguir leyendo »

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Kremlin in Moscow on Feb. 7. SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate

Five years ago, French President Emmanuel Macron was elected on the promise of revitalizing the European Union with new vigor and vision. Arriving at his victory rally with the EU anthem playing and EU flags flying behind him, he pledged to “defend Europe” and protect its “civilization”.

At the heart of Macron’s vision for Europe, which he has developed in great detail during his years in office, lies the notion of European strategic autonomy. What sounds sensible and practical at first—Europe should be able to assert its independence and ensure its own security—is part of a much bigger ideological edifice of Europe’s place in the world and pursued by other French leaders before Macron.…  Seguir leyendo »

A traffic jam on a boulevard leading out of Kiev is seen as Ukrainians flee the city following the Russian invasion on Feb. 24. Emilio Morenatti/AP

Europa, , , ,

As Ukrainians flee in massive numbers, Europeans have opened their countries and homes with unprecedented speed and generosity. The scale and pace of the Ukrainian refugee exodus—more than 1 million within only a week—dwarfs even the worst of recent humanitarian crises and is quickly approaching the epic dislocations last seen in Europe in 1945. In Syria, it took two years before refugee flows reached a similar level. In 2015 and 2016, the European Union took in 1 million asylum-seekers each year from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, and this so-called migration crisis quickly turned into an existential issue for the continent.…  Seguir leyendo »