Friday, August 26, 2011

Thoughts on the current state of the EU: Alexander the Great, city-states, Cpt Kirk

The strategic mistake of Alexander the Great was that instead of uniting the 200+ Greek city-states into a permanent federal union, a kind of United City States of Greece, he decided to unite the world that was then known to him. and beyond

He thus embarked on a grand campaign that united Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, creating a marvelous melting pot ("Hellenistic Times") and then some, continuing like a Cpt Kirk to uncharted territory, running out of steam and dying without ever returning home!

An epic of course. But what he left behind was a globalization of sorts (see my post "Globalisation, today and in 300 BC") that lasted for a while. But was not sustainable. Had he focused on uniting the 200+ Greek city states into a permanent entity, History could have been quite different (especially that of Rome).

Lessons for 2011 Europe?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The moral of this is: organic rather than cancerous growth? consolidation not colonialism? one by one rather than all at once?

Just asking.

Nick P. said...

The lesson is simple: European Political Union