EU & China

Of interest to our superpower discussion is yesterday's Thomas Friedman column. Basically, Friedman is arguing that the reason he objects to the EU's desire to sell weapon systems to China is because they are weakening the balance of power in Asia without strengthening their own military. He finds it problematic that Europe wants to make money from arms sales (though he also points out that this arms sales may just be a promotional deal to go with airbus sales) without buying much itself, creating a large economy that can't defend itself--or needs the United States to defend it. I know a lot of people might look at the situation and say, "oh, see, Europe is so wise--they realize military spending is not important," but I have a hunch that Friedman is right, and Europe is conciously factoring the United States into the picture. What I find particularly amusing is that most of this column just refers to "Europe." Looks like the Pax Romana really is coming back.