[T-N-T]

> I full heartedly believe this institution played a major role in retaining the piece after World War 2.

Not this canard again. Countries that have known peace within their homeland territory post WW2 were countries that either owned nuclear weapons, or befriended a power that owned nuclear weapons. The EU has nothing to do with peace within continental Europe. In fact it could NOT stop extremely bloody conflicts like the Kosovo War from happening. But I guess 1998 is ancient history?

The nuclear bomb is the true peace maker. It's what made the US and USSR so frightened of even the possibility of a conflict between each other.

[soVeryTired]

> The nuclear bomb is the true peace maker.

Sorry, then why has the US been involved in a major war every ten years since WW2?

[T-N-T]

>Sorry, then why has the US been involved in a major war every ten years since WW2?

Because those countries didn't have nukes. Nukes create peace for those who own them, not those who don't. North Korea will never be invaded by the US as long as they have nukes.

Same thing for Pakistan. It will not see the same fate as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lybia.. because it has nukes.

Western Europe knows peace because its two strongest powers are nuclear powers (United Kingdom, France), while the remaining power, Germany, kept being pushed into proving it has become inoffensive such as signing a treaty prohibiting it from building nuclear weapons. There can be no war in Western Europe territory as long as the UK, France and the US don't want war.

The last nail in the coffin to prove that the European Union is a paper tiger that has nothing to do with the absence of war in the continent is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Nobody cared enough for Ukraine's fate to defend it and so Russia took whatever piece it wanted from it.

The EU didn't end war in Europe. Nuclear powers ended war in -WESTERN- Europe, which is not all of Europe. It would be nice to stop forgetting that there's other countries to the east of Germany and Switzerland. Considering the annexation of Crimea, the idea that there's a guaranteed peace is merely a dream, not a reality.

[tormeh]

First, the EU is not a defense alliance. Second, Ukraine is not in it. European countries are largely semi-pacifist. Whether that's a good thing or not is not a settled question. Going to war is generally bad for reelection in Europe whereas it is good for reelection in the US.

I do broadly agree with you that nuclear weapons have produced peace, but the EU has done quite a bit of useful work related to internal struggles, like Ireland.

[gnarbarian]

The nuclear deterrent is real. It's like the old saying "an armed society is a polite society".