THE LAST few months have seen a sudden rush of moves to step up West European military cooperation. The West European Union, a previously obscure organisation, has become the vehicle for the first West European military discussions to exclude the United States since the Second World War.
The West European powers are attempting to significantly increase their room for manoeuvre on defence questions by creating stronger military German Leopard tanks Socialist Action 27 April 1984 forces to bolster NATO, increase West European weight within it, and to prepare, in the worst case, for future greater clashes of interest with the US.
Across Europe movements exist opposing American rearmament, but the response to the military policy of the European imperialist powers has been far weaker.
JOHN ROSS looks at the new wave of enthusiasm for West European military cooperation and the issues it poses for the left in Europe. ATTEMPTS TO form a West European defence pact and mutual defence force go back to the 1950s. In 1954 all the original members of the EEC drew up a treaty for a Defence but the project floundered.
'special relationship' and refused to join.
ed the treaty being ratified. West European pose he issue allew.
the Vietnam war onto its Year 1 705. rapidly lost their value gold from US stocks.
Western its gold reserves.
real links began lo from this time.
expression of this Community, Britain was at the height of its importance with the US And a com- uses. bination of the Gaullists and the Communist Party in France blockThe Union, the body now being revived for the present discussions, was the only outcome. Bluntly Such discussion declined from the late 50s, until, in the late '60s, increased For economic tensions with the US began to The US used its control of the international money system through the dollar to shift a large part of the cost of that weapons.
and has the France and Britain.
whether it should.
that coulill y tries.
develop military defence.
SULLESL US.
returned to. The French. Italian, British and German Tornado aircrait. An example of European military cooperation 'allies'. Dollars were run off the US printing presses resulting in the great international inflation of the late 60s and The L'S paid in dollars which - a form of well organised but legal robber!.
De Gaulle led the counter-attack by exchanging French dollar reserves for When France persuaded the rest of Europe to follow the same path the US suffered a rapid decline in Alongside this De Gaulle began to distance France from the US on the military field. In 1966 France formally withdrew from NATO - although the were maintained build up own nuclear weapons, the force de frappe European cooperation in conventional armaments production increased The Jaguar and Tornado tighters were the most spectacula.
— built by consortiums of British, French, West German and Italian firms. Behind British and French finance for Concorde lay the advanced aviation technology research for other military These projects had to be West European in character as no individual European state has the resources for such high technological development West defence cooperation to extend beyond this it has to deal will two inter-related questions - that of nuclear weapons, and of Germany. Or, should West Germany have nuclear West Germany is the third ranking economic power in the capitalist world.
strongest conventional armed forces of any capitalist state bar the US. But it has no nuclear weapons due to both the ultimatum of the Soviet the policy of . West Germany has the technical capacity to produce the bomb whenever it wants, but the big question of West European defence is Britain and France historically opposed the West German bomb because traditional capitalist enemy of both those coun But this policy has to be changed to serious West West Germany is the West European capitalist state and its access to every form of modern weaponrv is crucial to tuture European defence independent of the As yet such an option is not yet practically discussed in Europe. Only a few hardy souls are prepared to openly grasp that nettle today, but it will be Today Western Europe is putting its energies into building up its own conventional armaments industries This not only increases its from the US, but helps cut the drain of resources to the American arms industry. Europe is not trying to break with the US, but to increase its weight within NATO. Nor are the West European states really capable of building the type of military forces that could be a complete alternative to the link with the US But this policy, of increasing West military room for manoeuvre, is why some of the most determined defenders of the EEC for example David Owen - are attacking Thatcher from the right on military policy. Owen has accused Thatcher of not increasing British military spending rapidly enough, and abandoning the pledge to increase defence spending by 3 per cent in real terms per year. Pledge As part of his reorientation of the Labour Party toward 'Eurosocialism Neil Kinnock has come out in favour of dropping Labour's pledge to cut arms spending These moves have vital consequences for the European left. The left of the labour movement across Europe has developed a deep struggle against United States imperialism, particularly against cruise and Pershing. but also against US policy in Central America. De Gaulle launching the first French nu
LAST FRIDAY Sandinista troops recaptured the town of San Juan Norte which had for several been occupied by 'contra' guerrillas based in Costa Rica. The of little military significance — its 1500 population was evacuated several weeks ago -but if it had been occupied for any length of time it could have been for contra For 18 the contras have Deell hold