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The European Union and National Identity
| Article
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22080 |
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Section : |
EDITORIAL
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| Issue
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4 / 2001 |
1,060 Words |
| Author
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Morton A. Kaplan
Editor and Publisher |
The Special Report in Current Issues this month is on the European Union. I have been a supporter of the concept since the days of Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman. Even the largest European nations are too small individually to play a major role in the world, and the smaller ones will have only insignificant influence except as part of a larger organization. Europe has too much history, economic power, and human capital to be relegated to the backwaters of history.
Yet, for many of the same reasons, I would not like to see a genuine federation. Each of the possible members has its own rich history, culture, and language. Submersion into something like a United States of Europe would impose costs that I do not think any sensible person would desire to see.
How costly the loss of national symbols can be is illuminated by recent events in Russia. Some Americans were horrified when President Putin called for a replacement of the then-current Russian anthem with Stalin's wartime anthem and for the red flag to be the official banner of the Russian army. I thought Putin had it just right. All communist symbols were carefully eliminated from the lyrics and the flag. The music had been composed during the patriotic motherland period of the war, when Russian rather than communist symbols were emphasized.
A national anthem must be stirring and rouse the emotions. Stalin's wartime anthem, unlike the stodgy post-Soviet anthem, fit the bill. Moreover, the red flag was the one under which the heroic Russian soldiers defended the motherland against the attacking Nazis. Loss of these still-potent symbols would severely damage Russia's efforts to overcome its
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