3 ms·
Yes, economic interdependence is helpful, but it's most helpful when (a) the dependence is bilateral by having a uniform market like la Communauté Européenne du
by torstenvl 5y ago
Yes, economic interdependence is helpful, but it's most helpful when (a) the dependence is bilateral by having a uniform market like la Communauté Européenne du Charbon et de l'Acier which you alluded to; (b) the market directly relates to materials of war (again, like the CECA); and (c) the war you're trying to avoid is direct and violent, rather than, say, a plausibly deniable false flag operation to annex part of a nearby nation.
Germany can't build steel rifles and tanks to invade France if it needs France to make things out of steel. I don't think it follows that Russia can't annex any European nation's territory if it likes getting money from Germany.
- scrubs 5y agoAgree: @biologist123's assessment is part day dreaming, part naive, and part right. Still. Russia? Since WWII most other countries have moved on in a serious way. Look at China and Japan now v. 1945. Look at Germany. Russia is the laggard. In particular there are certain to be economics involved in selling natural gas, but Germany seems a little too needy for it, and Russia can't seem to take no for answer. Neither one of them can seem to stop hanging out in the alleyway to explain what's going on out here in the light. Germany-Russia from what I can tell tends to have dynamics of a 3-way love triangle with the 3rd vertex reality: first they're together, then they fight, then retire to a neutral corner.