Geopolitics and National Identity

Part 2.
IS MODERNISM DEAD?

First, the U.S.: As the "only global superpower," from now on, America's major contribution to the construction of the future, like it or not, will not be economic or technological advances but rather the provision of a certain status quo in the world. As a minimum, the further unfolding of the European project cannot manage without American guarantees of security that are often manifested in such harsh actions as its military operations in the western Balkans.

Its frequent overtures to draw Russia into a united anti-terrorism front notwithstanding, Washington continually strives to diminish the role Russia plays in the world, as John Lukacs argues in The End of the Twentieth Century and the End of the Modern Age. The EU is considered at once an ally and the greatest competitor - and so Washington is wary of improving relations between the EU and Russia.

Ukraine is perceived as a potential ally either in, or on the periphery of the EU, or as a means to restrain Russia. That is why America may become above all a guarantor of Ukraine's independence, but not its major economic partner.

Rather than Washington cutting ties to Europe, though, it was Europe that began casting off from the American world. After the USSR began to abandon
its positions and roll back eastward surrendering territories one after the other, the European states understood that they need not fear any threat from the east for quite some time.

An economic, political, and military collapse took place in the European East. In its place was a vast empty space into which the European idea easily advanced with unprecedented speed and success.

The EU's sphere of interests now covers nearly the entire European continent. The recent approval of Romania and Bulgaria's entry into the Union in 2007 puts a tight EU wrap on all the western borders of Ukraine.

We have no other neighbor in the west but the EU, and we should be keenly aware of this.

The EU is the largest world market, as yet not fully exploited by us although the European common market is already Ukraine's main trading partner. The EU's part in Ukraine's foreign trade is growing and nobody can call a halt to this process. As an economic partner, the EU already dominates and will dominate in the future.

The deep-rooted pacifism of the EU's character and consequently of its policy, however, interferes with its ability to provide security to the entire European project, i.e. the EU project. At present the security of the European continent still relies on the U.S. So does the security of Ukraine, which is a guarantee of its independence.

As long, that is, as America needs it. In his Of Paradise and Power, the American "new right" commentator Robert Kagan ironically calls the European project a "post-modern" one still sheltering under the American military umbrella, while the EU leaves the U.S., still in an earlier, "modern" period, to face the "pre-modern" Islamic world.

No matter what label we stick on it, the European project is unique in world history, and among its highest achievements is the adherence to a set of
standards that are not only proclaimed but implemented by EU members.

The EU modernizes the entire society, political life, and economy of each country that joins it. For all this, it has not yet passed the test of time, unlike the American system with its experience of 200 years and two world wars.

The security of the European project is still in Washington's hands; generally, the EU simply borrows American might. At the same time it sees closer ties with Russia as a way to partly free itself from U.S. influence, particularly in the sphere of energy security. After the Orange Revolution we saw frantic attempts by Russia and the EU to get "naughty" Ukraine involved in schemes to build alternative gas pipelines.

Thus, despite sympathy for "orange" Ukraine, the logistics of geopolitical rivalry force EU leaders to ignore Ukraine for the sake of their Russian relationship.