SJS 4: An East-West Split of the EU?

Source: Gryzmala-Busse, Anna. "An East-West Split of the EU?" Current History: A Journal of Contemporary World Affairs 115.779 (2016): 89-94. Print.

Author Credentials: Anna Gryzmala-Busse has achieved a number of different appointments, which include the following: Faculty Associate, Center for Political Studies: Director of the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies; Director of the Weiser Center for Europe and Russia; Ronald and Eileen Weiser Professor of the Department of Political Science. She received her Ph.D. in 1999 from Harvard University (Department of Government). She now has taken over as a professor in the department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. Her principal interests include political parties and political competition, state development and transformation, and post-communist politics.She often writes about and explores the paradoxical comebacks of communist successor parties and its impact on constraining rent-seeking, state theory, and the unintended consequences of the European Union enlargement. Thus, she often ventures her research into many areas that include political downfalls and similar structural changes that may occur in areas, mainly those in Europe. This creates a sort of bias where she will have a tendency to ignore issues that occur in other areas of the world and downsize them in order to strengthen her own arguments about more Eurocentric societies. Including in this article, which is primarily based on the European Union.

Summary: Anna Gryzmala-Busse’s article “An East-West Split of the EU?” discusses and seeks to identify the rift that is growing within the European Union between two factions; one being the newer former communist countries, and the other being the more well-established countries. The article begins by discussing the various differences in the “east” and “west” and the truth about the divide between them, that they are not simply political divisions, but also geographic and even social divisions. It then goes on to discuss how after World War II the western part of europe mostly ignored the communistic eastern part, in order to focus on rebuilding and fixing poverty, among with other situations. This allowed the eastern part to grow unchecked and to do what it pleased, also allowing the two parts to grow and develop very different creating very different political and economic regimes under which the two sides would function. This would create a permanent change in the european social system that Ken Jowitt, a political scientist, refers to as the “Leninist legacy.” These legacies would leave lasting effects and changes throughout europe that would cause fractures in the socioeconomic system of Europe, and more specifically the European Union. The next section is titled “Deference Deficit” and it discusses the numerous conflicts that have risen between the “older” and “newer” members of the european union. These conflicts did not always include warfare and bloodshed, but more often the discussion of foreign relations and ideas on religion and how it should be applied throughout europe. Generally, in debates such as this the eastern or older side does better due to its increased amount of experience in politics over the western or newer side. Although, on issues such as the Greek Financial Crisis, the decisions made were based upon each country's individual needs and opinions. Another example is the refugee crisis, which has divided the European Union based upon how each country feels about the refugees. The refugee crisis has put a considerably amount of strain on the alliances that previously existed as each country struggles to gain the upper hand, or just the ending to this that it desires. Therefore, at the moment the tensions between some parts of the EU are considerably high, although it will not split into two separate factions any time in the near future, and this is due to the self-serving nature of many of the countries in the Union.

Analysis: Anna Gryzmala-Busse’s article “An East-West Split of the EU?” considers more of the past history of the European Union and its two “factions,” the old or western part and the new or eastern part of Europe. Although it does not give a true answer to whether or not the European Union will split in the near future, it does provide a lot of evidence that would allow the reader to come to their own decision on whether or not it will occur. It provided many strong examples that describe the tensions that exist within the European Union, such as the Greek Financial Crisis, and the Refugee Crisis. These examples give insight into the differences between a variety of different countries as it describes how different countries reacted to each problem, therefore allowing inferences to be made about where the loyalties of each country lie, and from their the likelihood of the splitting up of the European Union. I believe that Anna Gryzmala-Busse is a reliable source as she is the head of many organizations that each pertain to the social,economic, and political divisions and associations that exist in europe, whilst also focusing specifically on areas that involve the cold-war paradigm, also since she is not truly involved in many of the matters she writes about it has a perspective that almost seems removed from the situation.