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The Tale of a Third City...

22/11/2015

3 Comments

 
In my previous blog I tried to link European understanding/experiences with American imperatives - A Tale of Two Cities: Paris and Washington - as a way of suggesting that the differences between these two worlds are many in spite of shared values and aims that the empowered and the lazy love to concentrate on. Then came Brussels... and the reaction to the 'terrorists on the lose' was markedly different from Paris, Why the security shut down? What does the 'capital of Europe' represent that Paris does not? Is this just a natural heightened extension of fear after missed opportunities or is their something else in the mix?    
 
Brussels is primarily the capital of Belgium but sometimes you wonder. I find it far easier to speak English in the capital then poor Flemish especially if I'm hungry, OK thirsty - I'm not the only one. But lets pretend that it is not now dominated by French language and sentiment, lets pretend that this form of cultural nationalism does not matter - it shouldn't but it does to some - and recognise that Brussels is the archetypal hub; citizens of the World spilling in and spinning off around Europe - an amazingly vibrant crossroads. It is also the administrative centre of the EU. Did Brussels actually invent the word Bureaucracy! If they didn't they should of, just listen  to the way EU institutions communicate, it defies 'gravity'.            

Brussels also, crucially, is the centre of the United States political and military footprint in Europe - NATO. This organisation was initially set up to protect 'Free Europe' from the dastardly Soviets. But when that particular raison d'etre ended a new reason for maintaining this institution had to be found, Why? Couldn't Europe of 1990's provide their own security ? Didn't the US want to go home ? After all victory had been declared, the US had won and as Hegel sort of predicted, history was a process that would end with no longer anything to be written about. Well, as awkward questions started to be asked about this institution's future, 'thank heavens' along came the Balkans conflict and the 'War on Terror' linking for 'ever 'European security to American imperatives. But what is fundamental to this ongoing relationship is the majority of NATO's funding comes from Washington, the majority of the military input from West Point, and regardless of what European face fronts this organisation the agenda continues to be set  and influenced by Washington. In other words, the lens that is looked through to consider European security was undoubtedly made in silicon valley.           
 
Therefore, as the US has 'significant' assets in Brussels I wondered if the urgency and agency surrounding this new approach in Brussels  had something to do with Washington talking to Charles Michel? Surely not! What I can suggest with some degree of surety is that this conversation would have been far more clearly understood than Secretary Kerry's talks with the Elysee Palace earlier in the week. UK PM Cameron's meeting with President Hollande tomorrow in Paris is not coincidental, this leading Brit is there to clarify what Kerry did not understand as well as saying thank you for the French led UN agreement earlier in the week. The British PM if he wishes to continue to eat at all the political top tables must keep Washington in the loop - as Kissinger famously remarked but then half heartedly denied, 'who do I call if I wish to call Europe'? Ironically, and surely paradoxically the answer was London. Why not Brussels? And we wonder why Europe still remains a mystery to the average desk bound State Department official let alone the political decision-makers! 
 
Last week, the influential US Atlantic magazine printed an article entitled, 'What is Wrong with Belgium?  Strange since two years ago whilst talking to three State Department officials based in Brussels they asked roughly the same question, roughly since we had all been drinking copious amount of Belgium beer. Putting aside their expletives the staffers observations were focused on the differences between this nation's understanding of freedom and Washington's. I did observe that you cannot expect Brussels to be Boston or Baton Rouge, precisely came the retort that is 'your' problem. I would not have minded but no one laughed.    
 
On Thursday the United States celebrates Thanksgiving  - I will write nearer the time on this - but I hope that many in Belgium are NOW counting their blessings that how lucky they are/ we are to live in this place and space with our particular unique nuanced understanding of freedom regardless of the few that come to live here and try to infect our society with hatred.For our sense of life should not be up for debate regardless of where and who, and Brussels should reflect that in any language that is clearly understood.
 
We zijn allemaal Belgen   (excuse my poor Flemish)

 
KK 

          
 

 

3 Comments
Julie Stokx
24/11/2015 12:43:24 pm

I think there is definitely something else in the mix. What is also interesting is that people are given so much information on the current situation (thanks to the internet, many newspapers created an online live feed with updates about new developments, for example), yet so little actual facts of what is going on are reported. This reminded me of what we talked about in class about distracting people with information. This amount of information also creates even more fear: “still looking for Salah Abdeslam”, “tracking down Mohamed Abrini, the chauffeur of Abdeslam, who is armed and dangerous” etc. But what is actually going on and what is the actual risk? As an inhabitant of Brussels, this has made me nervous the past couple of days, but why? Because, indeed, what has actually changed? So, yes, fear is one cause of the security shut down, but undoubtedly something else is going on.

Reply
R Crevits
26/11/2015 12:17:57 pm

Personally I'm not buying J. Jambon's claim they successfully thwarted a terrorist attack on Sunday. The whole story sounds incredibly fishy. It seems implausible that they would arrest 16 people in one go, only to let 15 off scot-free again once the press release had been issued. While at the same time, the judiciary refuses to deny nor confirm Jambon's claims. Perhaps Jambon may have half-heartedly admitted his own exaggerations by stressing the fact that police raids succeeded in clearing numerous safe houses. Maybe that was the thwarting part. Although the discovery of those 'safe houses' begs the question of a) why they found nobody inside them (or truly substantial weapon caches), even though there was an "imminent risk" of Brussels being targeted and b) why, if there was nobody home, bloody suicide bombers would have need of a safe house supposedly after their attacks? I'm over-simplifying of course, but I'm genuinely curious as to his - or their - explanation.

Methinks the Minister of the Interior wants something to show for four days of extreme antiterrorism measures. Especially with Belgian authorities now being grilled in international media.

Reply
Yoeri Maertens
30/11/2015 07:16:25 am

I want to elaborate on the paragraph about what is going wrong in Belgium. Last week I was particularly stunned about the fact that Belgium was called a failed nation-state (see Tim King's article in Politico http://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-failed-state-security-services-molenbeek-terrorism/)

I agree with King that Belgium is not heaven on earth and there are a lot of problems, which for a large part originate from the difficult linguistic make-up of the country and the overflow of governments regulating the nation. This being said, I think that calling Belgium a failed state is not one, but several bridges too far, as failed states are typically associated with countries in the Middle East (one can think of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya...) In contrast to these states, Belgium has a federal government elected by a democratic vote, Belgium has an economy resulting in its citizens being amongst the wealthiest on earth (see: http://moneytalk.knack.be/geld-en-beurs/sparen/belgie-heeft-de-op-drie-na-rijkste-burgers-ter-wereld/article-normal-613195.html), and as former US ambassador Howard Gutman pointed out this weekend, Belgium is one of the safest countries in the world, especially when compared with the United States for example. Arguably then, Belgium fulfils all the requirements for being a nation-state: it has domestic order and stability (although the Brussels lockdown was called forward by fear, everyone acquiesced to it without dissent), Belgium’s borders are not contested and we have a legal system.
Besides up to this very day (and I sincerely hope this will remain the case) Belgium has not had a terrorist attack comparable to Paris, Madrid, 9/11 ... while Belgium houses a lot of important institutions: NATO, EU... The only terrorist attack in Belgium was the attack on the Jewish museum in Brussels and then it was, maybe ironically, executed by a Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche.

To sum up, I agree that Belgium has its flaws, as has every other country in the world, but calling Belgium a failed state incited a nationalistic feeling in me that I was not aware of.

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    Dr J Ken Kennard Professor of Politics and History - Master Program in American Studies - Universiteit Gent

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