As we have found out recently with the news of nuclear tests performed in Pakistan and India, the threat of nuclear war in the world is still very real. In this day when countries often use the threat of nuclear war to protect their interests, other countries’ aspirations to acquire nuclear technology have soared. The temptation to develop, test, and manufacture nuclear arms comes from the fears and suspicions states have of their neighbors.1 As a result, countries that currently do not have nuclear capabilities are attempting to ally themselves with countries that do in hopes of someday acquiring these capabilities, thus protecting themselves from possible military advances from their neighbors. It is conceivable that, in the future, any country that can financially support a nuclear program will have one. In light of this possible reality, relations between countries with nuclear capabilities have become issues of extreme importance.
A country’s well being cannot always be secured through internal dealings. Economically this is statement is most definitely true, because if countries could not interact with each other through trade, all countries would seriously lack major foodstuffs and industrial goods. As a result, trade and other financial dealings between countries serve to improve the well being of each country’s people, economy, and government. These necessary and valuable economic dealings between countries form bonds between them that often lead to other relations, and the more economically dependent countries are on each other, the less likely they are to go to war. With this in mind, the economic benefits of the formation of the European common market (the market) have had a worldwide impact on the possibility of nuclear war in the future. In fact, the formation of the market has greatly reduced the risk of nuclear war in the future because it promotes economic prosperity in Europe.
The European Community (EC) was established in 1952, shortly after Word War II in order to secure Europe from the possibility of another world war. At the time, the EU consisted only of Belgium, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. In going about preventing future war in Europe, the EC went on to set up the European Economic Committee (EEC), which provided for the formation of a common European market, and the European Atomic Energy Commission (Euratom) in 1958.
In 1973, the EC grew stronger as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark became members. Shortly after, in 1979, the European parliament was elected, and the European Monetary System (EMS), which linked the countries’ currencies and prevented currency fluctuations, was put into effect.2 In 1993, the EC became the European Union (EU) which was formed to further unite the EC nations. Desiring to achieve a higher lever of economic unity among the European countries, the EU established a three-phase plan. The plan consisted of creating free trade zones throughout all of Europe, a customs union to regulate an external tariff schedule, and a common market where capital, goods, services and people could freely move between countries without any internal barriers.2 By agreeing to such terms, the countries have decided to become more like the United States, in that they are a collection of independent states that are economically bound, in essence, becoming one nation.3
Today the EU it is comprised of fifteen of the most powerful countries in Europe; Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. There are currently ten countries awaiting membership into the EU (Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovenia). These countries already benefit from the common market in that they are able to trade freely between all of the European countries, but their positions would be greatly enhance by becoming full fledge members of the EU. By becoming members, these countries would not only gain voting representation in the Union, but they would also enhance their diplomatic relationships with the other member countries.
Europe has benefited from the policies that helped to create the common market and its free trade zones for several reasons. Obviously, though, the most significant result of the formation of the market has been the further development of and the creation of new trade relationships within Europe. These trade relationships have encouraged greater interaction between the European states and has allowed for increased trade, stronger economies, and better diplomatic relations.
Since the creation of the European common market in 1993, each of the European states has experience significant growth in their import and export trades. The creation of the free trade zones throughout Europe has allowed all European countries to have access to numerous markets that were not previously available to them. These new markets have allowed industries throughout Europe to experience great success by giving them access to more customers and reducing their costs. As a result, the European countries have been able to utilize these trade zones to their advantage, and also trade with each other more easily.
Evidence of the positive effects of the common market on trade can be seen in data from the fifteen EU members, as from 1992 to 1996, they experienced an average 10% growth in imports and 10% growth in exports between them.4 Going even further, in 1997, Europe lead the world in imports (80.4%, or $135.3 billion) and exports (77.7% or $121.2 billion), even though it only represents approximately 9% of the world’s population.5 The countries are also trading with each other, as fifteen of Belgium-Luxembourg’s (they are economically united) top twenty customers are European countries, while twelve of its top twenty suppliers are European countries.5
The common market has also had several effects on the economies of the European countries. The common market has essentially created economies of scale within Europe. With each country able to trade freely, the market allows countries to focus on producing the goods and services for which they have comparative advantage. As a result, countries are able to easily acquire all the goods and services that they desire by trading with countries who have advantages in producing other goods. Thus, trading in this manner saves time, effort, and money for both countries involved. This behavior allows countries to maximize their productive capabilities, since they don’t have to produce every type of good, thus strengthening their economies.
The common market has also served to stabilize the economies within Europe. With the market, countries are able to establish strong trading relationships. Several trading relationships have been established and honored within Europe over the past five years. What these relationships have done is create a constant flow of goods between the countries. There are no surprises of whether or not a country will face a shortage of a certain good or service, because the strong trade relationship has ensured that the good will always be plentiful. This kind of certainty allows for economies to maintain a balance. Under certain conditions, economies have relatively predicable fluctuations, whereas under uncertainty, economies can lose their value overnight. Thus, the common market helps create stable economies within countries that engage in trade with each other.
The creation of the European common market has also allowed countries to pursue diplomatic relations with the other countries in Europe. Specifically the common market has brought Europe closer together and has inspired several countries to want to become members of the EU. In the EU, the countries of Europe have a forum to discuss all kinds of political, economic, and domestic issues with each other. It allows all the countries of Europe an opportunity to gather and discuss what goals they want to achieve in the future and how they can work together to get there. The result is a union of countries working together both economically and politically to achieve common goals.
The effects of the European common market are numerous, but they have all served to bring the countries of Europe closer together. The relationships built between these countries have served to greatly reduce the threat of nuclear war. The increased trade, economic conditions, and diplomatic relations between the European countries as a result of the common market, has served to create an economic environment within Europe where each country is dependent upon the other in order to maintain their well-being. As a result, the trade and interaction between countries encouraged by the common market has eliminated any threat of nuclear war within Europe.
Trade has a significant impact on whether or not countries will engage in nuclear war. If two countries are dependent on trade with one another in order to function economically, then there is very little chance that these countries will go to war with each other. There is too much at stake for each country for them to go to war. Their interests are better met through continuing, beneficial trade than through war. If two countries are not significant trading partners and a conflict arises, then they are much more likely to engage in war, possibly nuclear war. The fact is trade serves a very significant purpose in maintaining peace. Through trade, countries are able to acquire goods and services necessary to keep functioning, thus helping to stabilize many countries’ economies.
If a trade relationship carries on for years without any significant problems and it has been profitable for both countries, then there is a good chance that the countries will become involved with each other on other levels. Specifically, countries that have good trade relations will often be involved in diplomatic relations concerning peacekeeping and defense. These relationships further strengthen the bond initiated through trade, and further reduce the possibility of the countries engaging in nuclear war.
The relations that have developed in Europe over the past few years have made nuclear proliferation moot point. Considering the enormous amount of money it takes to create a nuclear program, or even to import nuclear technology, it would not be an economically or politically viable decision for a European country to try to acquire such capabilities. For example, Syria purchased 150 missiles from North Korea in the early 1990’s for $500 million, while Iraq spent imported $100 million worth of missiles from Brazil in 1990 for use against Iran.6 European countries have no need to spend such incredible amounts of money on weapons, considering that they do not harbor any suspicions of their neighboring countries.
The European common market has become a universal economic power that has brought the European countries together through trade and commerce. With better functioning and more stable economies, these countries have benefited from the formation of the common market. These positive effects of the common market have served to greatly reduce the risk of nuclear war in the world today and will continue to do so in the future.
Currently, the EU conducts quadrilateral talks with the United States, Canada, and Japan. It is also involved in providing monetary and technological assistance to achieve economic development in third world countries. Most importantly, however, the EU has created policies toward strengthening the EU’s economic presence in Asia, bringing Asia into the international political community, and also policies toward improving poverty, health care and the environment in Asia.2 With such actions, Europe is taking a role in the international community and it is bringing the countries of the world closer together. It is not unlikely that, in the future, these countries could form bonds between each other much like those formed within Europe. The overall effect of such unions would be world economic prosperity, with hardly any threat of nuclear war.
It is hard to say what will happen in the future, but given that there is really no way to stop nuclear proliferation, it makes more sense for countries to take advantage of what their neighbors have to offer them in the form of trade and commerce. The European common market has allowed Europe to do so, and it seems as if it may have a similar impact worldwide. If anything, the prosperity of European common market has achieved the goal of the founders of the EC. It has effectively ended the possibility of another world war in Europe, but in the long run this might only be the beginning.
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