Do the Americans fear the European union?

Question

My college professor was tutoring on the history of some of the key players in the European union. He reckons that the way capitalism is shaping the western world has bred allot of resentment to the US from countries like Germany France and surprisingly the UK.

He added that the tide is turning and that the US should keep a close eye on Europe : He also added that a war one does not want to get into is a war with Europe, they seemingly have the worse human rights record.

Does anyone think there is any substance in this as surely the US is the ultimate power.

Answer 1

No one in America fears a European union.

Answer 2

No. Most don't even know exactly which countries constitute the EU or what the relationships among them are.

Answer 3

The European Union would have a difficult time either militarily or economically with the US; the major problem is from a raw material standpoint they are even more dependent on other regions then the US and that effects both military options and the economics side.  I think the greatest fear with the European Union is that it will either turn very socialist or more likely overly meek in dealing with Russian actions as they have a huge dependence on Russian or Russian controlled oil and natural gas supplies; this is most likely the major reason for the current actions in Georgia by Russia since Georgia has a non-Russian controlled supply line to western Europe for oil and natural gas.  All the talk about Georgian oil is not important because they have limited amounts of that the key is the pipeline and supply route bypassing Russia.  This is one of the things holding the EU/NATO from being firmer in dealing with this crisis.  The big fear is that will fall under Russian influence or become intimidated because of the control over those supplies and allow Russia to be unchecked in the future.  So I would say that their is little "fear" of the EU and more of a concern about those issues.

Answer 4

No, we don't fear the EU. We do however have a great deal of pity for Europeans because of it. Fear, that is just funny.  

Answer 5

Recognize that college professors have Theories.  Take it with a grain of salt!

Answer 6

Why would anyone fear a union of hippies who fear an sort of confrontation? If the USA left NATO, they'd all be sh*tting themselves. The European countries can hardly agree with each other on anything. If the government actually gave the Brits a vote, they would no longer be a part of the EU. Many countries would follow their example. We have military bases all over Europe, we are not worried about a war with bleeding heart, hippie Euros.  

Answer 7

Fear it? no, sorry. It's actually good to see that other "western powers" are doing well. It's not all fun and games when you're the one on top for so long. Growing up in the U.S., I've seen it first hand all my life. There's a ton of responsibility to the world when you're on top, and can be a huge burden on the country also. We know this all to well in the U.S.!

That's what's good about the EU, is that it's many countries banded together. I'm sure the EU will remain a major player for a long time to come, and I'd rather see them on top as opposed to certain other areas of the world who would abuse power very badly. I don't understand what there is to fear? The U.S. and most of Europe are allies in more ways than one. Not only militarily, but economicly also. We both rely on each other for certain things, and if one of them fell, it would surely have drastic effects on the other.

So, generally speaking, I think it's a good thing. It also lifts some pressure off of us in terms of sharing more "world responsibility," and balances things out more.

Answer 8

Right now, Americans are so dumbed down and ill informed, they don't even know THEY are in a North American Union!

And like they guy above me said,

most probably wouldn't know what the EU is, many couldn't even name a country in Europe.

Answer 9

The average American in the street has no idea what the EU is, much less fears them.  They only have some vague image of Europe as being socialist and weak militarily and taking a backseat to the greatest country in the world.