The Golden Cage of the EU

Interview - Seyed Vahid Karimi, PhD, Director for Euro-American Studies, Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), Tehran, Iran, October 2007

Do you believe that the upcoming "planetary Leviathan" manifested in institutions like the European Union will bring justice to religious, ethnical and cultural diversity?

I am not hopeful that institutions like the European Union could bring justice and I do not believe that they are eligible to do such a thing. They are not observing justice. Not long ago both French president Nicolas Sarkozy and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinedžad used the word justice in their speeches. What is strange is that Sarkozy used it much more but at the same time Iran is the country that for the last two hundred years has not engaged in war with any neighboring country. France on the other hand in collaboration with Britain through European Defense and Security Policy had more then fifteen operations in Africa. This is why we in Iran do not believe that European institutions are the right kind of international political bodies for bringing the world together or for creating laws and regulations.

Which groups of nations driven with what interest do you recognize in Europe today?

Capitalism and liberalism are dominating the European Affairs. I would also add anti moral objects. There are two conflicting political thoughts in Europe. One is the Anglo-Saxon domination the so called Atlantis that would like to have interdependence with the US and the other one is called De Gaullists. The De Gaullists are represented by France, Belgium and even Germany as the engine of the European Union and the Atlantis is centered by Britain, Netherlands and Denmark. The new phenomenon is Sarkozy. I call him the sixth republic because he follows a different direction from the usual presidents of France. This is why I think the De Gaullists thought is going to be weekend and the Atlantis will prevail. Also as the EU is getting bigger my opinion is that France and Britain are collaborating more and more so they can dominate over the other nation members. France is helping Britain to preserve British interest in the Middle East because Britain is doing the same for France in Africa. This is happening in other international institutions such as NATO. My message to you is that not so long ago you came out from the communist cage and how you are entering a new cage. The only difference is that this time it is a golden cage which is even worse. Globalization is coming and there is no alternative for Croatia but you do not have to except domination. You can form different unions like Iran did with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. As Tito once formed the Non Alignment movement, so can Iran, Croatia and Venezuela form an alliance against domination.

Do you think that a vote of a small nation member inside the European Union matters if it doesn’t join with a large EU player?

That depends on the GDP and the population of the country. Croatia is limited in these elements so the vote would be very limited two. If for example two big countries and a few small ones collaborate together they can pass their own bill ignoring the rights of the small countries. This is why I believe that the European decision making system is undemocratic. Although the countries do have the power of veto the pressure to prevent them from using it is very intense. I am skeptical in regards to this. When the presidency is in the hands of the big powers they just tend to look at their own interest. I wrote an article about the British presidency over the EU in 2005. Blair and Chirac were fighting over common agricultural policy in Africa and Blair was misusing the name of helping Africa. They were not helping to solve poverty they were doing it for their own interest.

What do you think about politics of the EU toward the Middle East?

It is a disaster. I am going the say only one sentence and you can judge for your self: Europe and the West with its advanced technology are unable to solve the Palestinian question for the last sixty years. On daily bases you can see in the newspaper pictures of Palestinians suffering. That is just wrong.

Can you comment on Danilo Zola’s accusation that the judicial imperialism of cosmopolitan democracy exhibits indifference towards non western legal culture?

I agree with him. Even in the Security Council and the National Court of Justice there is a problem with this. We have to fight against the monopoly of international law.

After the SCO meeting in 2006. where Ahmadinedžad met with Hu Jintao and Putin you gave a statement for the Guardian that this was a great success. Does that mean that you believe Iran should turn to China and Russia rather then the EU?

We already did this. We have to look towards the East because the West is not responding. We are in the age of communication and Iran would also like to enjoy the prosperity of technology. The European Union is not helping. It is not acceptable that our civilian airplanes are under sanctions. Europe is not giving towards Iran. These countries talk about prosperity and humanity and accuse us for violating human rights. They are the ones that are abusing the human right to enjoy technology. That is why we think we have to turn towards other countries.

What is the influence of the government on IPIS being that it is a governmental organization? Is there room for democratic dialog?

The Institute is totally governmental and I am a diplomat as well as a researcher. Still in IPIS there is room for democratic dialog. You may be surprised to hear that in Iran I am in minority with my critical opinion towards the EU. Europe as a continent is advanced and many young people in Iran follow the trends from Europe. We are not against the technology we are against domination. In IPIS we have a room called "The room for thinking" and every Tuesday we have a meeting in that room where we have democratic dialogs. We also organize international conferences where you can be share your opinion. Some are against and some are for and then a committee judges. Our preference is that people should come to Iran and judge for them self. What ever I say here is not correct. You have to come and be engaged with the people and then make your own assessment.

Interview by Emina Demiri

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