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A financial storm gathers: one we can weather

By James Dunn - posted Tuesday, 16 August 2011


These problems are serious matters but let's not panic.

The EU remains sound, while the United States is still by far the world's most powerful economy. Its ills, however serious, will not necessarily plunge Australia into recession thanks to our own international diversification and strength.

It is a serious matter though, reminding us that the problems underlying the last damaging crisis have not corrected the fundamental problems Americans and others face in the 21st century. Nor can the Asian tigers gloat, for their prosperity has been riding on the affluence of the richer countries.

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We surely would not want to see the collapse of the EU, about which there has been some speculation. I believe that Europe will ride out the storm and perhaps become even stronger. The European Union is after all the world's most inspiring and enduring example of the economic and security benefits of political integration. That process, which began in the aftermath of World War II, was not just about the war torn continent's economic recovery. It was also about creating a permanent environment of peace.

Most Europeans will never forget their long history of conflict, going back a thousand years, culminating in the most disastrous conflicts in human history which cost some 80 million lives, the destruction of whole cities and even the threat of nuclear war.

The EU held promise of the creation of a political and economic environment that would end the risk of war, shared prosperity and the added promise of the world's most advanced community in terms of the practice of democracy and observance of human rights. No other region has approached such enlightened goals. The problems faced by the EU today are minor compared the situation in most parts of the world.

Indeed the end of Europe could spell the end of the United Nations, indeed the end of civilisation, an outcome to be prevented at all cost.

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About the Author

James Dunn is a former Australian consul in East Timor who wrote the definitive book on East Timor’s history in the mid-80’s Timor: A People Betrayed and updated in 1996. In 2001-2002 he was the UNTAET Expert on Crimes Against Humanity in East Timor.

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