I know… depressing.
Ironic ultranationalistic memes aside…
Let’s continue and be serious for the rest of this post.
Sorry for being a Millennial there.
Ukrainian officials are in Paris today discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I think the following is the most reasonable path to peace.
- France and the rest of the European Union promise to send Ukraine more aid, stabbing Trump and Putin in the back.
- France and the rest of the European Union implement stricter sanctions on Russia, stabbing Trump and Putin in the back even further.
Ukraine can win the war this year as Russia’s economy collapses. It’s just that simple.
If you wouldn’t give Paris to Hitler, don’t give Crimea to Putin.
The next agenda for France is to get the United Kingdom to rejoin the European Union.
The first step is that the UK is trying to broker “deals” with other countries. Particularly Canada. This needs to be undermined. Macron must fly to Quebec City and Ottawa to meet with the Quebec Premier and the Canadian Prime Minister to offer a counterproposal that Canadians and Europeans should have the right to freely live and work in each other’s countries. Extend the European Economic Area and Schengen Area to Canada. This is a far better deal than anything Starmer is offering, simply because the European Union has a bigger economy, more places to go, and more job opportunities. Integrating Canada into the European Union would benefit both parties.
This leaves Starmer with no deal with Canada, as he keeps blabbering about. This one supposed “Brexit benefit” will then evaporate.
However, if the United Kingdom rejoined the European Union, it would benefit from free trade and travel with Canada and the European Union.
Macron can make this happen over the next few years.
The process of Canada integrating into the EEA should take around 4 years. The only barrier is aligning economic regulations with Europe.
With Canada in Schengen and Trump out of office, it is time for a diplomatic onslaught on the United States to moderate our extreme politics. If Russia can propagandize the United States to vote for a convicted felon like Donald Trump, then certainly the European Union can do the same to convince Americans that an open border with Canada and the European Union is not the end of the world, but actually would be beneficial to the United States.
Reducing trade barriers, aligning regulations, and enabling the freedom of movement between North America and Europe will benefit everyone. It will extend the most successful model of continental integration to show that even oceans cannot stop the process of global democratization. wordy and redundant. This will show that cooperation is more powerful than conflict. It will help moderate American politics as it will be difficult for Republicans to replace it. With a deep integration of workers moving freely across borders, there would be no easy way to undo these bonds without serious economic consequences.
Unlike the accession of former Soviet colonies to the European Union, the United States and Canada are already quite wealthy and have been democracies for over a century. Our incomes are closer to Germany than any country that was a member of the Warsaw Pact (excluding occupied East Germany). This means there wouldn’t be the same type of one-way flow of workers. This means that when designing regulations, the United States, Canada, and European Union would have increased pressure to converge to what are found to be best practices. We don’t necessarily need regulations from the European Union for many of these policies unless they are clearly for safety reasons. The best practices, by definition, give better results, and when companies and workers can freely move around, the reality will be to adopt best practices or fall behind. Workers will have the right to move to where the best practices are done. This forces countries to adopt best practices or fall behind.
Integrating the United States and Canada into the European Economic Area will be a tide that lifts all boats. It is likely the best plan for the United States to implement universal health care. It is the best way for Europe to increase its productivity to match that of the United States, which has slipped since the austerity crisis. The pressure of the market will force the European Union to adopt best practices regarding tech, just as it will force the United States to adopt best practices regarding health care.
There is no reason Australia, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea could not be the next countries to join.
But let’s start with the United States and Canada, which have the longest shared border in the world, starting with Canada.
This is a rosy future. But it is in reach. This is the best way to counter Russia’s influence. It is the best way to show a clear path towards a prosperous economy for countries moving along the path to democracy. It will counter authoritarians by extending systems which are very difficult to unravel.
Let’s make it happen. Bring Canada into the European Economic Area.
