Waterloo - A Not So Unassuming Landscape



By Silvia Brigido - Blog Entry I

As we tour Brussels, the "capital" of the European Union, it becomes increasingly apparent how this beautiful city has become a hub for all cultures, nationalities and languages. Here, people can’t help but feel as though they are a citizen of the world. A statement that may sound idealistic to some, yet that seems to be one of the goals of the European Union. That is, to join forces and built upon each nation’s strengths to form a community of collaboration amongst each other as an attempt to avoid rivalry. However, nationalism seems to be stewing just below the surface. European countries have a long history of wars based on national pride. Therefore, it only makes sense that the people of this continent would feel exhausted by their history and hope for unity and diplomatic cooperation as opposed to further conflicts and division.

Today our group toured the area known as Waterloo, a vast empty field in which one’s keen eye and power of imagination is necessary to visualize how significant this landscape was in order to succeed on that fateful day. It was on this apparently unassuming landscape where one of the most decisive European battles occurred. It was fought between Napoleon Bonaparte leading the French, and the Duke of Wellington, leading the British and with the support of the Prussian army under the command of Von Blucher. The battle of Waterloo, a day of grueling bloodshed, was of great significance and changed the course of European history after 20 years of conflicts. The events on June 18 of 1815, led Europe into 50 years of peace and opened doors to diplomatic resolutions.

Our group was lucky to get an amazingly detailed tour by one of our own, John Callaghan, who is incredibly well versed in all the details of the events that occurred during the whole campaign which lasted for three days. We got to walk along every edge of this field and see exactly how tactful and skilled those commanders had to be in order to best use the area. It quickly became apparent that the landscape alone was one of the deciding factors between the victor versus the fallen. It is an area made up of many ridges creating a natural barrier from incoming fire and an advantage of attack. The one who understood this best was the Duke of Wellington and it just may have been a huge factor in his victory. Additionally, communication was the second ingredient toward victory. While Wellington and Blucher had clear, constant and effective communication amongst themselves and their men, Bonaparte was lacking the same, despite haven been one of the most masterful war lords in history.

The results of this battle led Europe into an alliance between France and Britain, and stimulated the unification of the Prussian states into what is Germany today. Thus, it could be said that these were steps toward diplomacy and may have steered Europe into what we know it to be today - a Union of strengths.

The EU's Expansionism - A Viable Strategy?

The EU Commission in Brussels

by Thomas Ricard - Blog I

The European Union Commission is an intriguing part of an incredibly complex system. Overall, what the European Union (EU) has accomplished, and hopes to achieve in the future is very impressive and ambitious.

On a continent where every country has grown to have its own individual and unique culture, it is simply astounding that they have been able to unify and work together. However, due to this reason many compromises were made in the structure of the EU. The process the EU is required to go through in order to institute change throughout Europe is incredibly complex, and confusing. Consequently the EU is also incredibly slow in implementing anything. This seems to caste the EU in the same image most of the world have of the United Nations, which is that the institution ultimately is of very little use considering the amount of money it uses. However, standardizing the Euro and allowing easier passage throughout Europe for citizens are still quite remarkable achievements even if they weren’t completely adopted by all EU members.

What the European Union hopes to achieve in the future however, I start to doubt and frankly am curious as to why they would imagine some things. It was mentioned that the European Union Commission hopes to bring in Belarus and Armenia in the future. While Armenia seems possible to me, despite the backlash it would most likely receive from Russia and its returning President Vladimir Putin, I can’t believe the Commission has any true hope of bringing in Belarus. This is after all, a country that for some time appeared as if it might join Russia, and its ruler Alexander Lukashenko, has been in power for well over a decade now. Even thinking of a Belarus joining a series of treaties focused on encouraging and preserving democracy throughout Europe is slightly absurd to me.

While I think that is it pretty remarkable what the EU has done so far, I do believe it is rather limited now due to how diverse its members are. Trying to solidify a continent to prevent future wars and other conflicts is admirable and appears to have been achieved very effectively by the EU. However, starting to unify social policy among so many different cultures seems like a poor decision, and also simply impossible. Cultures have distinct aspects that individuals use to separate themselves from others. When you begin to unify social policy among so many different cultures it would begin to contribute to a loss of identity. It’s no longer being German, French, or Spanish. Rather they begin to drift towards just being European, and criteria used to differentiate themselves begin to become far more challenging to find and sustain.

Overall, the achievements by the European Union and its member states are very impressive and I believe a good example to the rest of the world for unification. I look forward to seeing how well the EU succeeds.

Back in Europe - And Why We Are Here....

By John Callahan - Blog 1

I volunteered to go first with my blog entry for this trip, for many reasons. I want to compare this trip to others I have taken, and I want to see how recent upheavals have changed Europe, even in the year since I last visited.
I have returned to ODU after a 10 year hiatus to earn my Doctorate in International Studies. International travel has always been both a passion for me and a specialty of various university programs, which was something that drew me back.
I first came to Brussels for a similar study trip in 1997, and have visited numerous times since. For me, this trip is about change, and seeing how the upheavals of the world are impacting Europe and the European experiment. The greatest challenges for now appear to be in the future of the Monetary Union, as the Greek crisis continues to create waves of uncertainty throughout the continent and the world. Americans should not delude themselves that we will be unaffected if the Euro goes into a free fall. We are leveraged in a way that ensures that we will feel the pain, which may be significant as we face a fundamentally stagnated recovery. It is quite interesting to leave a country already locked in the throws of a Presidential election and see what is going on in the rest of the world. Indeed, the main news items of the last week, including candidates bullying each other, and the legal status of Gay marriage, strike me as breaking out the fiddles to start playing while Rome Burns in the form of the Greek debt crisis.  
Back to Europe, and our purpose for being here… This trip is designed to give us a renewed sense of what is going on in Europe, both at the National and Regional levels. While we are here in Belgium, our focus is on the Region. For example, today we met with Kirsten Jorelson, an information officer from the European Parliament. The discussion topics ranged from growth of the EU to the Monetary crisis.  A primary topic was the prospect for new admissions into the European Union, particularly focused on Turkey.  Turkish entry into the EU has been on the table in one form or another since the 1960s, however, it seems unlikely that the issue will be resolved any time soon.  Even less likely does it seem that a resolution will mean Turkish accession. Today was a great immersion, both into Brussels itself, through an excellent walking tour, but also a warm up for the even weightier issues to be discussed in the coming weeks.