Not So Sup(r)a

Large, supranational governing bodies may at first glance seem to be a panacea for what ails the world. This supposition can be defended. For instance, as our speaker noted yesterday, members of the European Union never ever fight one another. An overarching supranational government would then seem to lend itself to preventing war. In addition, all the members of an EU type setup have the opportunity to take advantage of a free market in way that non-members cannot, resulting in advanced economic opportunities for all. Hey, there aren't even any wars between constituent states which would hurt the economy! It seems like a strong system, and it is. I would even say that it is in many cases a preferable form of governance.

However, it is by no mean the only viable form of governance. The good old nation-state still can stand on its own two feet. In fact, one reason that supranational governments will not always work (and hence cannot be the only viable system) is that established and powerful nation-states cannot be absorbed so easily. They will want to continue their established primacy on the world stage, and so will either seek to break off once more from the supranational group or to try and take control of it - contrary to the point of having a supranational government with multiple constituents.

One current example is the UK within the EU. Many, many people in the United Nations want the UK to pull out of the EU - there is an entire political party that has a platform revolving around it. You may have noticed our speaker's noted lack of, well, anything regarding the UK in his talk yesterday - that's because the UK is a threat to no longer be in the Union after a while. Why? Because the UK is a world power with political influence that belies its physical size, and it does not want to be subservient to some supranational voice. "We're England!", reasons the populace. It wants to do what it has always done - lead the way, not listen to rules that Estonia wants passed.

The rest of the EU should be thankful, however, the the UK is not following the leads of France or Germany. Those nations, as our speaker talked about, are blatantly making a power grab. They are ready to use the EU as a mouthpiece, an organ for their own convictions about European life. And what of the other nations in the EU? They are individually no match to these two powerhouses, and so while some of their proposals may be shot down by the the EU community at large, not all of them will be. Eventually, the EU will be dominated by French and German ideals - just as Europe would be anyway if there was no European Union.

Generally, though, smaller states get a great deal of good out of a supranational governing system like the EU. If there is no dominating voice, then all states stand to gain from the economic and safety benefits that come with a unified front. The supranational body can even stand to defend itself from a powerful nation-state. However, adding an already-established nation-state to the mix simply creates more conflict and more problems for everyone.