(Opinion) EU 2012 Nobel Peace Prize: A Prize Deserved?

                                                            

There are many things you can say about Nobel peace prize and its awarding committee, among them would be that they sure know how to pick their winners. From awarding the peace prize to Henry Kissinger despite his well-documented involvement at the tail end of the Vietnam War to Barack Obama winning the award in the midst of two protracted wars, the noble peace prize has a history of awarding public figures with a lot of blood on their hands.

However one of its strangest awards to date was giving the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union. While it’s not unusual for political organisations to win the prize such as Amnesty International and the UN, it is quite strange that a political project has won in what is probably its most trying period.

Recent years may have tested the EU as political and economic project, but what is not up for debate is the EU is the most successful political project in the history of international politics. For centuries Europe had been rife with “divisions, tensions and conflicts” borne out of competition and imperial ambition[1].

These two factors made sure Europe would remain a Hobbesian nightmare halfway through the 20^th century as the continent experienced two world wars and several failed attempts at diplomacy in-between, notably with the League of Nations. However, Influenced by the brutality and death that characterised the Second World War, leaders across Europe realised the need for a united Europe ensuring that war will never break out in Europe ever again.

The fact that the peace has held in Europe for so long after centuries of conflict and competition owes much to the process of integration between the economies of EU member states and laws strengthening human rights legislation. The success of the EU has been that it has meant greater cooperation between nations in Europe, particularly the big three, Britain, France and Germany, key players in both world wars. In recent years the EU has expanded eastward with the accession of former soviet states to full membership.

However, the process of integration and cooperation mediated by the EU has led to developments that have been met with less than other endeavours. The establishment of the single currency was seen by some as the most ambitious development in uniting Europe even further and seen as a major threat to national sovereignty by others.

The Euro was seen by supporters as the most audacious statement of intent by EU member states to unify Europe by tying their fates together by establishing the European Monetary Union (EMU). While the language of the EMU was economic, it was motivated purely by politics as the EMU remarkably took  many of the controls traditionally handled by member states and put them in the hands of technocrats in Brussels. This was accomplished through the rather strict monetary requirements aspiring EMU members had to meet to join the single currency[2].

While the idea of uniting Europe in the interest of peace and prosperity has been a success, the undemocratic nature of the political project has been the source of bickering among member states and the economic stagnation of many members of the EMU, Greece being the most prominent example

The EU’s response to the Eurozone crisis has been poor to say the least as the troika of the EU, IMF and ECB has forced upon Greece’s strict austerity measures and heavily conditioned bailouts in an attempt to keep Greece in the EMU despite default being a painful but viable option. The fact that the EU has partnered with the IMF leads to questions of it lack of accountability due to the IMF’s use of notorious structural adjustment programs recommended to countries of the global south.    

These polices that  have caused instability in many nations in the global south have now been imposed on Greece and has led to frequent, often violent protest by ordinary Greek citizens against strict austerity measures used by its government and the EU itself. 

The search for consensus by EU leaders from EU member states has led to creation of the fiscal pact, which will impose tough fiscal measures to make sure its members keep financially sound budgets, mostly through measures that have failed miserably in Greece.On this evidence it is quite strange that the Nobel peace prize has been awarded to the EU this year as its polices have caused instability in Greece and it ideological preference for an united Europe has weakened significantly it member states ability to react to economic and political crisis

In conclusion, the EU is the most successful political project in the history of international politics and should be recognised for playing a large role in why there has been no war in Europe from Second World War onwards. However, to award the EU the Nobel Peace Prize when its policies have caused instability in Greece and threatened the future of the Eurozone is bizarre to say the least

  

  

---

[1] N. Nugent, 2006, The Government and Politics of the European Union, Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan

[2] S. G. McGiffen, 2001, The European Union: A Critical Guide, London, Pluto Press (p.60)

(Video) Krugman on Newsnight

The Nobel Prize winning economist argues his case on newsnight

(Opinion) government inefficiencies bad, Private sector inefficiencies wors

While there have been many failures to lie at the door of government, its failures are nothing compared to the failures of the private sector. For the last 30 year or so, we have been subject to a very successful campaign extolling the vices of government citing horror stories of government waste, failed policies and personal tragedy while at the same time deifying the marketplace.

However the arguments that would have ended pretty quickly any debate on the reform of the marketplace have fallen by the wayside as they have been disproved in the most dramatic fashion. The last five years have confirmed just about every argument made for reform or even the abolishment of the marketplace as the never ending drive for growth has led to the collapse and concentration of banks in a bid to survive the biggest crisis since the great depression.

We have been exposed to the folly and the outright deception of respected financial institutions as they risked their reputations to increase profits and ended up causing market failure on a grand scale. The recent LIBOR scandal involving Barclays is another example of what happens when profit motive is the only motive involved in the market sector, as banks actively shirk their responsibilities to their clients and customers in the pursuit to make money.

While the government cannot escape a large portion of blame for economic difficulties of the five years as it has failed in its task of regulating the activities of Banks as even  regulatory bodies have been subject to widespread logic that dictates that in order for markets to flourish, government intervention must be minimal or avoided altogether.

This logic, despite all the events in the last five years that have damaged its credibility beyond repair, still holds strong among those endowed with the power to craft a new financial regime based on sustainable polices as the world has just found out just how finite the possibilities of the marketplace really are.

This can explain why most of the regulatory reforms are mostly weak and allow banks to use the same practices that caused the collapse in the first place. Regulating the financial system is going even more difficult as banks, due to government forced mergers, have become an even bigger liability than before as if there should be another market failure, the ‘too big to fail’ arguments for government intervention will be untenable.

In sum, the arguments against government agency in the marketplace were part of an effort to glorify the market in the interest of those who sought to benefit from a weak government which has now collapsed under the weight of events of the last five years. Regulating the financial marketplace will be even more difficult as banks have become even more concentrated due to forced mergers. Government official must make reforming the financial system a top priority as due to the banks being concentrated, the taxpayers maybe be able never mind willing to fit the bill.

(Opinion) medals for drone pilots?

While there are more pressing issues to write about, the US military plans to give medals  too drone pilots seems really crazy. Military medals are usually doled out for service in war and bravery displayed in the battle but to give medals to drone pilots, who never sees any action, is like giving the medal of honor to Scooby and Shaggy.

while the skills of drone pilots are vital in war, to give medals to them is a slap in the face of those injured, killed or risked life and limb in the field of battle and ultimately cheapens the other medals the military gives to its most deserving soldiers. This can be seen as the introduction of the culture of giving medals based on participation rather than on merit into the military, an institution, probably more than any other, is built on the concept of merit. 

In sum, the military simply cannot give medals to drone pilots as the only danger they face is thumb blisters and a dead leg, an injury that can easily be topped by accident in the field of battle. beside the obvious differences with regard to the proximity to danger, it is contrary to the reason why medals are handed out in the first place as medals are a recognition of the contribution and sacrifice demonstrated by those who chose to serve, not a recognition of participation. 

(Opinion) weak coalition now subject multiple union strikes

While there is very rarely an opportune time in politics to fight a war, to pick fights with key sections of the public sector when your opponents have a solid ten point lead over you in the polls, suffer from a awkward double whammy of suspicion and apathy towards most of your policy initiatives, and are at the center of what is sure to be the most infamous political scandal of the decade, is a very unwise strategy indeed.

The latest group preparing to strike in light of the coalition government targeting their pensions is doctors and GPs, following the police and teachers as the coalition looks set to to be the most unpopular government since the conservative rule post thatcher. With the coalition economic plan based on austerity rather than growth, this has entailed major cuts in the public sector, meaning cuts in pay for workers in the public sector.

the coalition government strategy to justify their position with regard to making large cuts to the public sector is to stress their cost to the taxpayer citing their wage packet in comparison to the private sector, where they know private workers pensions are nothing compared to the public sector, but, the government will never explore why such a deficit exists. Unions in  the private for the most part never survived the purge of the thatcher government that vowed and largely succeeded in breaking the unions thus weakening their bargaining power at the negotiation table.

this policy of weakening unions was largely continued by labor as the labor leadership sought to distance the party from its past, of which the unions are a large part of. Now unions in the private sector, totally defanged,   are now just harmonizer of unpopular company policy as they represent very few workers and have no bargaining power due to a competitive labor market and advancements in the labor process. 

Unions now only have power in the public sector, which makes for a large percentage of their members. workers in this sector are not as disposable but still suffer to large cuts in budgets allocated by the government of the day

however, with a weak coalition government languishing in the polls, Unions see this moment as their chance to put pressure on this government to with a history of backing down major policy initiatives after little pressure from opposing groups. The coalition have no option but wait for unions to come to the table and talk about revisions to their pension cuts proposal

In sum, this government that has made enemies of friends such as the police will show up in the next election as this government has lived up to every stereotype that kept them in the wilderness for more than a decade.