Zones of Conflict

Vassilis K. Fouskas

Description

The US has major interests in the Balkans, the Greater Middle East and the Eurasian zone, which determine its political and military strategies in the region. What are these interests, and what strategies are used to ensure that they are maintained? Examining the balance of power between the US, the EU and key EU states, Vassilis Fouskas offers a critique of US foreign policy and its underlying motivations.



Fouskas argues that the major US objectives include control over gas and oil producing zones; safe transportation of energy to Western markets at stable prices; and the elimination, but not destruction, of America's Eurasian competitors. He asserts that US foreign policy is therefore driven by the desire to maintain a strategic partnership with key EU states, while preventing the emergence of an alternative coalition in Eurasia capable of challenging US supremacy.



How does the US manage its interests in Eurasia and what are the particular strategies the EU has elaborated so far to deal with America's supremacy? Has US foreign policy undergone a dramatic U-turn after the end of the Cold War or, for that matter, after September 11th? What are the roles of Germany, France, Britain and Turkey, and how do EU-Cyprus relations affect the balance of power? This book tackles these questions and argues that the emergence of a social democratic administration in Eurasia is a feasible alternative to American unilateralism.
Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

The Realist Chessboard

The Structure of the Book

Globalisation and European Integration

2. The New Geo-politics of Gas and Oil

The 1990s: Years of Pandemonium

Conflicting Interests: Oil and Gas Projects in Eurasia

End of the Cold War?

3. Scarface Politics

NATO’s ‘New Strategic Concept’

Problems of ‘Variable Geometry’

Political, Moral and Legal Conundrums: the Kosovo War

US Successes

Muslims, Christians and Foreign Policy

The Limits of NATO

4. Near and Middle Eastern Dilemmas

The ‘Northern Tier’ and the Greek-Turkish Dimension

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Conflict over Cyprus

Towards Summer 1974 and After

5. Turkish Questions for the West

A Democracy Guided by the Military and Used as Such

The US and the ‘Turkish Pivot’

Summing-up the Realist Game

6. Eurasian Gambles over Cyprus’ EU Prospects

EU-Cyprus Relations and Germany’s Primacy

US Qualified Support to Germany and Greece

Greek and Turkish Arguments

Military Diplomacy by the ‘Turkish Pivot’

7. Conclusion

US Policy in Eurasia: An Assessment

A Trans-Eurasian Convention Underwritten by Eurasian Powers

Re-conquering America

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• International Relations
• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2003
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781849641838
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Zones of Conflict

US Foreign Policy in the Balkans and the Greater Middle East

Vassilis K. Fouskas

P Pluto Press LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA

First published 2003 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA

www.plutobooks.com

Copyright © Vassilis Fouskas 2003

The right of Vassilis Fouskas to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 7453 2030 9 hardback ISBN 0 7453 2029 5 paperback

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Zones of conflict : US foreign policy in the Balkans and the greater Middle East / Vassilis Fouskas. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–7453–2030–9 –– ISBN 0–7453–2029–5 (pbk.) 1. United States––Foreign relations––Middle East. 2. Middle East––Foreign relations––United States. 3. United States––Foreign relations––Balkan Peninsula. 4. Balkan Peninsula––Foreign relations––United States. 5. United States––Foreign relations––1993–2001. 6. Balkan Peninsula––Foreign relations––1989– I. Title. DS63.2.U5 F68 2003 327.730496'09'049––dc21 2002015830

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Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Towcester Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England

To my father Constantine, who taught me what democracy and morality mean through his humble but difficult life

Contents

Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations

1. Introduction The Realist Chessboard The Structure of the Book Globalisation and European Integration

2. The New Geo-politics of Gas and Oil The 1990s: Years of Pandemonium Conflicting Interests: Oil and Gas Projects in Eurasia End of the Cold War?

3. Scarface Politics NATO’s ‘New Strategic Concept’ Problems of ‘Variable Geometry’ Political, Moral and Legal Conundrums: The Kosovo War US Successes Muslims, Christians and Foreign Policy The Limits of NATO

4. Near and Middle Eastern Dilemmas The ‘Northern Tier’ and the Greek–Turkish Dimension The Arab–Israeli Conflict Conflict over Cyprus Towards Summer 1974 and After

5. Turkish Questions for the West A Democracy Guided by the Military and Used as Such The US and the ‘Turkish Pivot’ Summing up the Realist Game

ix xi

1 1 5 8

11 13 16 27

34 37 39 44 50 54 58

63 64 67 71 76

81 83 91 95

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6.

7.

Zones of Conflict

Eurasian Gambles over Cyprus’ EU Prospects EU–Cyprus Relations and Germany’s Primacy US Qualified Support to Germany and Greece Greek and Turkish Arguments Military Diplomacy by the ‘Turkish Pivot’

Conclusion US Policy in Eurasia: An Assessment A Trans-Eurasian Convention Underwritten by Eurasian Powers Re-conquering America

Notes Bibliography Index

Maps 1. Oil and gas pipelines 2. The Enlarged European Union

99 101 106 109 111

116 116 120 125

129 157 169

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Acknowledgements

This book is a by-product of a large history and international relations project entitledGreece, Europe and the Balkans: Greece’s th Foreign and Economic Relations in the 20 Century, for which I received a fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust (2002–03) in order to conduct research in Turkey, Greece and Cyprus. My profound gratitude goes to Van Coufoudakis, Bulent Gokay, Peter Gowan, Peter Loizos, Stevan K. Pavlowitch and Donald Sassoon, who have read the manuscript, or parts of it, and enlight- ened me with invaluable critical comments and scholarly insights. I am also indebted to the editorial team of theJournal of Southern Europe and the Balkans. The work that they have carried out since the mid-1990s has been of enormous intellectual value to me. My colleagues in the European Research Centre at Kingston University (KU) and the teaching team of the MSc in International Conflict have been more than stimulating. I also thank the staff working at the inter-loan library service at KU, who have managed to put up with me on several occasions. Over the years, I have also benefited enormously from discussions with a number of scholars and policy practitioners, some of whom brushed aside their busy schedules and accorded me interviews. Out of discretion, I will only mention here Michalis Attalides, Tozun Bahcheli, Chris Brewin, Richard Clogg, Theodore Couloumbis, Soteris Georgallis, Pauline Green, Panayiotis Ifestos, Nikos Kotzias, Heinz Kramer, Nicos Makris, William Mallinson, Farid Mirbagheri, Brendan O’Malley, James Pond, Heinz Richter, Christos Stylianides, Mehmet Ugur, Thanos Veremis and Diana Weston Markides. I am obliged to Katy Patrick of the Open University and to my copy-editors Laura Harrison and Oliver Howard, and to András Bereznay for the maps. I also thank Katryna Turner for editorial help with the Conclusion. The third chapter is an extended version of ‘The Balkans and the enlargement of NATO: A sceptical view’, published inEuropean Security, V. 10, N. 3, Autumn 2001. I would like to thank the publisher for giving me permission to reproduce this material here.

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A version of the sixth chapter has been presented to a conference on ‘Cyprus and the EU’, held at Intercollege, Nicosia, in April 2002. It took its final form thanks to the research I was able to conduct in Nicosia and Brussels with the support of a travel grant from the Laiki Bank and the London-based refugee organisation Lobby for Cyprus.

List of Abbreviations

ABM Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty AMBO Albanian–Macedonian–Bulgarian Oil CAP Common Agricultural Policy CDU/CSU Christlisch Demokratische Union (Germany)/ Christlich-Soziale Union (Germany–Bavaria) – Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union CFSP Common Foreign and Security Policy (EU) CSCM Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean DC Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy – Italy) EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EEC European Economic Community EMU European Monetary Union EOKA National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters EPC European Political Co-operation ESDI European Security and Defence Identity EU European Union FCO Foreign and Commonwealth Office FIR Flight Information Region FYROM Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia GATT General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs IGC Inter-Governmental Conference (EU institutional practice) IMF International Monetary Fund INOGATE Inter-state Oil and Gas Transport to Europe ISAF International Security Assistance Force KLA Kosovo Liberation Army MHP Milliyetci Hareket Partisi (Nationalist Action Party – Turkey) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NSC National Security Council (US) OPEC Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries OSCE Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe PASOK Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Greece) PCI Partito Comunista Italiano (Italian Communist Party)

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PDS Partito Democratico della Sinistra (Party of the Democratic Left – Italy) PfP Partnership for Peace PLO Palestine Liberation Organisation PSI Partito Socialista Italiano (Italian Socialist Party) SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party – Germany) TACIS Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States TRACECA Transport Corridor Europe–Caucasus–Asia UK United Kingdom UN United Nations US United States USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics WMD Weapons of Mass Destruction WTO World Trade Organisation

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Introduction

The Realist Chessboard

‘Ever since the continents started interacting politically, some five hundred years ago,’ Zbigniew Brzezinski notes in the opening lines ofThe Grand Chessboard, ‘Eurasia has been the centre of world 1 power’. Russia, Austro-Hungary, France, the Ottoman Empire, Britain and Germany all wanted to dominate this bizarre landscape ranging from the French shores of the Atlantic down to the Persian Gulf, and from the Chinese land mass to Central Asia, the Black Sea, the Turkish Straits and the Suez. Brzezinski observes that all of the powers claiming mastery over Eurasia in the past were part of its landscape, but now ‘for the first time ever, a non Eurasian power has emerged, not only as the key arbiter of Eurasian power relations, but also as the world’s paramount power’. America is indeed the sole world superpower after the fall of ‘really existing socialism’ and has taken a firm grip of a great part of the economic and political resources of the vast Eurasian continent. In the midst of the great debates about the future of NATO and the EU, Brzezinski, like many other Anglo-Saxon analysts, attempts to elaborate a comprehensive strategy for America, so as to make impossible the emergence of any other challenger capable of thwarting America’s primacy in Eurasia. Quite rightly, he argues that ‘Eurasia is the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played, and that strategy involves geo-strategy – the 2 management of geo-political interests.’ In other words, if America lacks the proper strategy to streamline the development of key Eurasian actors according to her national interests, then Eurasia will be lost and America’s primacy in world politics will wither away too. Brzezinski’s account is clear, comprehensive and instructive. The overall message of his book can even be perceived by atout court reading of it. He makes everybody understand that globalisation via power projection is not an ‘illicit’ method by which the US may promote its national interests across the globe. What is more, these interests are best served by making realist geo-political use of the power innate in certain Cold War institutions, such as NATO and the IMF, as well as of the US paramount military might per se.

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