Cato talk: The French Ambassador Philippe Etienne on the meaning of European Defense

On December 10, 2021, the Cato Institute presented online the French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, to speak on the topic of European Defense.  Peter Goettler, President of Cato, welcomed him to the podium; and Justin Logan of Cato served as moderator with Professor Joshua Shefrinson, Boston University, and Rachel Rizzo, the Atlantic Council, offering their comments along the way.

The honorable Etienne referred to French President Emmanuel Macron's explication of the phrase European sovereignty to grasp the extent of European power in defending itself in the cause of peaceful co-existence.  For in the context of international relations, the EU has withstood emotion and anger by exerting its power to check the Chinese thrust onto the world stage, the migration crisis, various challenges to the rule of law proffered by world autocratic leaders, while maintaining through it all an economic greatness to realize a steady economic growth foretelling a world future of prosperity for the many nations on this planet. 

Its leadership in the world, the EU with NATO,  has been noted by the present Queen of England, who in a recent talk praised both Europe together with the United States in calming the world to emphasize a quiet co-existence among all who will but seek it in the affairs of trade and tribe. 

President Trump, in his assessment of NATO, seemed to laud this unitary approach to European military security commenting, Europe pays but a small price for what it gets in return!

The Ambassador also praised NATO in its current attempts to resolve the dispute between Russia and Ukraine by urging them to the peace table rather than to the military battlefield in settling what separates the two: If the oil pipelines that bring this commodity from Russia to western European countries should be controlled by Russian technocrats, perhaps that can be a matter of negotiation at the bargaining meetings between the two disputants.

In any case, the presentation by this Ambassador heralded the presence of a calm voice on behalf of prosperity at a time when there are loud cries from those who would foster division and chaos among us all.