Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Soft Power (continued)


My eyesight is beginning to come back, so I can now add to my previous blog, Soft Power. I am far from even a novice in understanding the convoluted bureaucratic structure of the European Union ... see: Wikipedia Entry ... but I think I can see many of the political implications of this mare's nest of undemocratic governance.

Angela Merkel deserves much of the blame. (or credit) for the possible unraveling of the European Union. But as we can see, she is not giving up quietly. The consternation she deserves centers around the progressive lunacy that inspired her to invite hoards of Syrian refugees to come to Germany last year ... causing a migration catastrophe throughout Europe. Once these immigrants are in Europe,  EU rules allow them to relocate anywhere among its member states. Whether this was Merkel's boneheaded or calculated move is in dispute, but her public invitations caused a heap of turmoil that ultimately lead to Brexit ... see: Breitbart Article.

I know, I know that the latest theory is that it was the free flow of immigrants from Poland and other Eastern European EU members that caused most of the dyspepsia among working- class Brits. But, this might also be because these Eastern Europeans are real workers and were more visible than the tidal wave of Syrians and other Muslims who moved invisibly onto home relief throughout Britain. But the narrative that it was not these Muslim masses that triggered Brexit is, to say the least, self-serving.

I also know that some feel that what put Great Britain over the Brexit top was the new EU restrictions on electric tea kettles, toasters and hair dryers. That just may have partially been the case ... for from undeserved power comes unmitigated hubris. However, this whole EU muddle is full of cross currents including some who feel that even greater European integration (as indicated in my previous blog post) is not in the cards ... see: CNBC Opinion.

My personal opinion is that Merkel is power hungry and will not be sated nor satisfied with her loss of European influence. The EU (read France and Germany) are feeling petty and punitive after Brexit ... see: CNBC Story. It is even rumored that the EU has just notified Great Britain that, in order to maintain current trade relations, that the Brits will have to accept the free flow of immigrants like was in place before Brexit. Pretty tough talk, no? Thus, I surmise that Merkel's soft-power strategy is still her path forward.

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