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strong>July 16, p7

Hopes are high that the 10th Asia-Europe Meeting '€” or ASEM summit '€” to be held in Milan on Oct. 16-17 will confirm the credibility and relevance of Asia-Europe relations in the 21st century. (By Shada Islam, Inter Press Service)

Your comments:

Yes, Europe has been remarkably peaceful considering it fought two world wars during the 20th century and came dangerously close to a third several times in the final decades of the same century. This would include the war in the Balkans, which saw ethnic cleansing as a means to control opposing populations as if people were unwanted pests. Today, Russia has annexed the Crimea region, formerly belonging to the Ukraine, and is threatening further intrusions into eastern Ukraine.

The Europeans, along with the US, are trying to use economic sanctions as a means to control Russian aggression in the region and with some success. However, Russia is a practically one-dimensional economy so sanctions work easier against them then say a multidimensional economy like China.

Any sanctions against the Chinese would quickly backfire as their economy has grown hugely in the last few decades and would likely send the world economy into a tailspin. What has worked in the past for Europe is NATO as that called for a military alliance to defend all members from any outside military aggression.

In recent months, the announcement of Japan'€™s willingness to come to the aid of other countries in the region against Chinese intrusions in the South China Sea along with tough stances from the Vietnamese and Filipinos seems to be working to back off China.

H Jockey