I've read a lot about "what can we do to stop Russia" and "Europe didn't accuse Russia enough" and similar topics after Russia invaded Georgia. I'd now like to explain the attitude to the whole story from the sight of an European.
First of all I've noticed a difference between what the American and what the European (in my case, German) media wrote about the Russian-Georgian conflict. In the american media it seemed that Russia was the only aggressor and Gerorgia was the victim. The European media said different things: Georgia sent troops, supported by the thought that the US stands behind them, into south ossetia. Now Russia felt the need to defend this area, where the people seem to sympathize with Russia. After that they proceeded further into Georgian territory, which was wrong. As you can see, in this case both partys have responsibility for the conflict, it was the fault of both. This is probably the first reason why Europe holds still.
The second, and probably major reason, is (at least for Germany) that we have a lot of trading going on with the Russians. We get a lot of our oil and gas from Russia and many European companys build factorys there and sell their products there. Neither side has any interests in destroying these contracts because of this conflict.
I think that for many people from the US Europe is still the great ally and in terms of economy, traditions and western values. This opinion is no longer correct. It still is left from times of the cold war. But when the wall in berlin fell, Europe began to develop by itself. In my opinion there are no longer "The West" and "The East", now there are 4 or 5 major powers on this world which all have their own interests. Everyone is just trying to get the best for himself. Europe has too many interests in Russia to accuse them.
The last reason is in my opinion, that after the last cold war we just don't want another. When I read this thread it seemed to me that America woudn't have anything against a new cold war or that it already started. I can understand that. Russia is once again threatening your position as superpower and you have two oceans and several thousand miles to russia on either side of your country. Europe on the other side does not want a new cold war. It would once again be the battlegrounds for the two sides. We never were a superpower, so we don't fear to loose any status and we know what it means to have the tanks, planes and nukes of two enemys in our countrys.
I hope all that made sense. Always when I try to write about politics I realize that my English isn't as good as I want it to be. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask. This also was written from a German. If I insulted any other Europeans because what I wrote does not apply to every other European country (which I'm sure is the case), I'm sorry for that.
First of all I've noticed a difference between what the American and what the European (in my case, German) media wrote about the Russian-Georgian conflict. In the american media it seemed that Russia was the only aggressor and Gerorgia was the victim. The European media said different things: Georgia sent troops, supported by the thought that the US stands behind them, into south ossetia. Now Russia felt the need to defend this area, where the people seem to sympathize with Russia. After that they proceeded further into Georgian territory, which was wrong. As you can see, in this case both partys have responsibility for the conflict, it was the fault of both. This is probably the first reason why Europe holds still.
The second, and probably major reason, is (at least for Germany) that we have a lot of trading going on with the Russians. We get a lot of our oil and gas from Russia and many European companys build factorys there and sell their products there. Neither side has any interests in destroying these contracts because of this conflict.
I think that for many people from the US Europe is still the great ally and in terms of economy, traditions and western values. This opinion is no longer correct. It still is left from times of the cold war. But when the wall in berlin fell, Europe began to develop by itself. In my opinion there are no longer "The West" and "The East", now there are 4 or 5 major powers on this world which all have their own interests. Everyone is just trying to get the best for himself. Europe has too many interests in Russia to accuse them.
The last reason is in my opinion, that after the last cold war we just don't want another. When I read this thread it seemed to me that America woudn't have anything against a new cold war or that it already started. I can understand that. Russia is once again threatening your position as superpower and you have two oceans and several thousand miles to russia on either side of your country. Europe on the other side does not want a new cold war. It would once again be the battlegrounds for the two sides. We never were a superpower, so we don't fear to loose any status and we know what it means to have the tanks, planes and nukes of two enemys in our countrys.
I hope all that made sense. Always when I try to write about politics I realize that my English isn't as good as I want it to be. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask. This also was written from a German. If I insulted any other Europeans because what I wrote does not apply to every other European country (which I'm sure is the case), I'm sorry for that.