The European Union and the Arabs

By Marc Schulman, American Future

Earlier this year, I posted a five-part series on my blog focusing on the transformation of the European Union (and, especially, France) and the UN into anti-semitic institutions. My analysis draws heavily on Bat Ye'or's Eurabia (a must-read book). The following is the first few sentences from each of the five posts, along with links to the full posts. I assure you that reading these lengthy posts will be worth the investment of your time. They represent an alternative history that you won't find in the standard texts.

Part 1. Why did anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism become more prevalent in Europe in the years before 9/11 and intensify thereafter? Why have the Europeans been less convinced than Americans that 9/11 ushered in a new era of mega-terrorism that threatens the fabric of Western civilization? Why did EU governments, for many years prior to Arafat’s death, lend their support, including their financial support, to the Palestinian Authority and take advantage of every available opportunity to harshly criticize Israel? Why did it take so long for the EU to declare Hamas a terrorist organization, and why has it still not quite reached that point with Hezbollah? In the run-up to the Iraq war, why did “Old Europe” strenuously oppose America’s determination to employ military force if Saddam Hussein didn’t abide by the requirements of Security Council Resolution 1441? Why did millions of ordinary Europeans march in the streets to protest the looming Anglo-American invasion of Iraq? Why do these same people believe that the United States and Israel are the biggest threats to world peace?

Part 2. In the first installment of this series, I provided a taste of the advice that Kojeve gave to General de Gaulle in late August of 1945. Kojeve’s view of France’s position and predicament in the worldwide geopolitical landscape at the end of World War II was the framework from which his recommendations flowed. In this post, I examine his geopolitical thinking. It will be shown that, with two notable exceptions, Kojeve’s ideas regarding the general contours of the post-war world were remarkably prescient and have been guiding lights in French foreign policy, up to and including the present day.

Part 3.This installment of “The EU and the Arabs” provides the connecting link between the ideas and policies set forth in 1945 by Kojeve in his advocacy of a French-led “Latin Empire” and the institutionalization of the Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD) in 1973. The objective of this post is to trace and understand the radical transformation of France’s Middle East foreign policy that took place after Charles de Gaulle ascended to the presidency of the new Fifth Republic in 1958. I will show that the tipping point in France’s foreign policy – from pro-Israeli to pro-Arab – was de Gaulle’s granting of independence to Algeria in 1962.

Part 4. Unlike previous installments of this series, this one deals with the events of only one year: from the fall of 1973 to the fall of 1974. During this period, the Arabs and the Israelis fought another war (the Yom Kippur War), OPEC quadrupled the price of oil, and the Euro-Arab Dialogue (EAD) was formally established. With the EAD’s formation, European Union (EU) and American policies vis-à-vis the Middle East sharply and permanently diverged, with the former seeking to heighten the stature and influence of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the latter opposing it.

Part 5. Among European states, France, Belgium, and Luxembourg were the most prominent proponents of the EAD. Also among these states, the French was the first to support the long-standing Arab demand that the PLO, which was well-represented at the meeting, participate in any negotiations regarding Israel. It was at this time that the French began pressing for international recognition of a Palestinian state.