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After a decade of NATO membership, Romania is facing the first serious threats. Was the choice of the military alliance of the West a rushed or an inevitable one? NATO and the EU are both creations of the Cold War: the threat of the Soviet Union and of communism in general gave additional boost to the older project of European unity. It was also an attempt to leave behind a history charged with nationalist conflicts which had thrown the continent down a spiral of mass violence, Following the implosion of communism regime a quarter of a century ago, the former satellite-states opted into the already functional common European project. Economic prosperity, values of political democracy, higher civic freedom, principles of the welfare state, a more refined civilisation there was a seductive prospect to countries that had been struggling with shortages, totalitarianism, de facto discrimination and ideological diktat for several decades. But political unity always comes with an inherent military size, as a project like that cannot escape threats. First of all, from the new Russia, the old, now resized enemy. Whilst, after the dismantling of the Soviet Union, it deserted communism quite easily in favour of capitalism, the countrys new identity was not convergent with the European project. After a few troubled years during the Boris Yeltsin regime, Russia re-found a relative stability and prosperity, however with the price of a new autocracy but also of a renewed ideology of a Russian spiritual superiority. Thats an old theme upheld, among others, by Dostoyevsky the one of a Russian messianism owing a dying Europe its salvaging. Unfortunately, such improvised messianisms are often prerequisites of imperialist thrust. To countries n the East of the continent, all these things are worrying. Next to other countries in this region, Romania has suffered a military occupation and a marionette regime because of the outcome of WWII. It therefore knows it well that, without adequate defense, any political project is vulnerable. In the period between the wars, it tried to defend itself by entering a few regional alliances, which turned out to be ineffective. NATO, however, is a totally different thing, even if Romania remains on the front line because of its border country status.

Like three quarters of a century ago, many did not believe a new war was possible in such a civilised Europe. But they were wrong, as Hitler had emerged exactly as a project meant to scatter away the old civilisation. Without making facile comparisons, we cannot help be concerned about Vladimir Putins project which is so similar from this point of view. If it was just about a revengeful propaganda, it wouldnt be that dangerous, but the real threat comes from the capacity of ideological seduction. The Nazism had followers all over Europe and beyond. All the more so did communism. In fact, what the current Russian political elite regrets is the absence of an imperialist ideology as seductive as the one of communism. This is where the Russian regimes weakness, but also explosive potential resides. It knows it cannot win on the spiritual side, but does count on resentment. The moral order devised by Putins Russia cannot convince Europeans, not even those who are nostalgic about the values of the past. Equally inoperative is a claimed Orthodox crusade, as it would have a much too limited ideological impact. On the other hand, a cocktail of resentments could generate unexpected adhesions. The eternal fishing in troubled waters is also not to be neglected. People are speaking these days about the Achilles heel of united Europe, which is Greece. Without forgetting the Cypriot Greeks.

The World War II had also been preceded by Germanys claim to be defending its ethnics in Czechoslovakia; exactly what Russia is now claiming to be doing in Ukraine. Back then, the sympathetic attitude of European leaders only postponed by a few months the threat of an inevitable war. It may seem incredible, but Europe is seeing again a serious threat. The Yugoslav wars were, however, contained to the seize of a regional conflict. But if Russia continues its current provocative strategy, Romania could find itself in the front line of a devastating conflict. What generally worked with the former Soviet Union was a firm policy that at times seemed to be pushing the world into nuclear war, as in 1962, with the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba. There is also another view that communism in fact collapsed because the Soviet bloc was defeated in the military confrontation thanks to the decisive breakthroughs of US technologies in the age of President Ronald Reagan, within the Strategic Defense Initiative also called the Star Wars. No matter how much civilisation develops, the war will continue to be a permanent threat for human communities. It takes realism, and the Mideast shows us once more how easily war can slide into barbarism.

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Spectre of war