Peace Won By The Strong

Sally McNamara / September 04, 2009

Marking the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek paid tribute to the European Union for making war on the Continent unthinkable and, “materially impossible.”

He had a point; not that the EU was a critical instrument of peace and stability in the years following World War II, but that Europeans enjoy a quality of life unimaginable just 30 years ago, never mind 70 years ago. And he’s right that it is important to remember why. The Transatlantic relationship embodied within NATO, matched with an unprecedented troika of global leaders in Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II, brought about the downfall of Communism and a growth in prosperity and democracy that have transformed the world. (more…)