The US longs to start a world war that will allow it to relive its "glory days" as a superpower, the L'Ordre blog writes at Beliefnet.
The post made reference to Immanuel Wallerstein's theory of US hegemony to explain US actions:
It is also consistent with Immanuel Wallerstein‘s account of US hegemony, which informs my own view on the matter. Wallerstein argues that the United States was the single global superpower – the hegemon – in 1945, being the only power in possession of a nuclear weapon and the premier cultural and ideological master of the world-system. It was also accepted as the guarantor of global security after the Second World War, being the primary power that came out on top of the global conflict. As the traditional European powers were reduced to rubble and rendered unimportant, they became reliant on the American Marshall Plan to reconstruct Europe – be they Germany, France or Britain. They also needed America as a military and economic guarantor against any possible plans of the Soviet Union to turn Western Europe to socialism.
Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/lordre/2015/04/the-us-and-nato-are-like-withering-vampires-hovering-over-europe.html#ixzz3WRRvyyGz
Read more at http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/lordre/2015/04/the-us-and-nato-are-like-withering-vampires-hovering-over-europe.html#7thBY2MDU1ou2A9v.99The blog was throwing its weight behind another article at Counterpunch, which in turn was quoting at length from a Der Spiegel article to explain the German foreign policy establishment's growing skepticism towards Washington and its NATO alliance (particular scorn being reserved for the NATO military chief General Breedlove) over the Ukraine crisis.
The consensus of all three pieces was that US leaders are beginning to realize that their country's reputation and power have been in continuous decline since 1945, and that their country's role in "rubblizing" and rebuilding Europe was the key to their country becoming a superpower. Realizing that this role is now unacceptable and unjustified because the Second World War is now very old history, the US may be seeking a pretext to destroy Europe again in a new kind of world war, which explains its desperate attempts to lure European countries into conflict with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
The best strategy to reverse US superpower decline may be to get European countries to sacrifice themselves against Russia, thus destroying their own ability to question American global hegemony again as Germany and France did in the 2003 Iraq War. This would allow the US to return to Europe as a pretentious and arrogant "savior", restoring it to its post-war glory and allowing it to once again declare itself as the arbiter of international law and order and the protector of Europe.
US foreign policy in Europe is based on preventing the emergence of the EU as an independent actor in the international system. Russia is used as a bogeyman to this effect, as the US tries to convince European countries that they are too weak and require American patronage if they are to survive against Russian "aggression".
European countries increasingly demonstrate that they do not share Washington's priorities, as they would prefer a permanent peace in Ukraine rather than a policy of confrontation with Russia. German and EU officials have also made remarks signalling that they are not confident in the NATO alliance and would prefer the establishment of a European army to defend their own interests. Such a move would eject the United States from Europe in disgrace, discrediting it as a military power in Europe and achieving the highest desires of French and German foreign policy thinkers to restore their countries' independence from the US.
