It is becoming clear why Putin has been pursuing a strategic alliance with China and doing his best to bolster the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Rahr said.
The EU is destined to change. Given Europe's internal socio-political problems, aging population, and lack of economic growth, the EU cannot remain a club of rich West Europeans sponsoring the poor in Eastern Europe, but it also does not want to withdraw into itself either. Thus, the burden will have to be shouldered equally.
Where is Europe going? Will the old transatlantic union be reborn to the liking of western elites? Will the EU dissolve in transatlanticism and, led by Britain, again become a faithful pillar of U.S. global policies in a unipolar world, supported by Germany and France? Such a twist would give a second wind to the West's traditional institutions, NATO and the OSCE. Ukraine and Georgia would not have to integrate with the EU to accede to the EU; joining NATO would do. This would push Russia even more toward Asian alliances, the expert said.
Europe is irresponsibly rejecting integration, albeit informally, with a Eurasia rich in natural resources that the West so badly needs. According to Rahr, the EU seems unwilling to give up its principles. A strategic partnership with Russia would be, even more than before, viewed in light of liberal values. Present-day Russia is a fictitious partner to the West, Rahr concluded.
