In the early 20th century, World War I laid waste to the European empires of yore. Fast-forward to 2024 – and the Old World is faced with a predicament where it does have enough resources but seems inept and clueless about how to use them.
Several years ago, Europe projected exceptional political swagger worldwide. Indeed, its robust national economies and social systems alongside the fast-paced integration processes rhymed with sustainable development that was seemingly immune to any external geopolitical shocks. But these days, most news stories hailing from the European continent tend to be either awkward or bizarre or both.
Europe is ostensibly weighing sending its peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. France is caught up in a chaotic cabinet reshuffle. Germany is headed for a tumultuous early election following the collapse of the ruling coalition. The Europeans keep meddling in the Middle East. But crucially, European politicians cannot stop churning out a stream of bizarre statements that are as reckless as they are pointless.
These worrisome developments have left many stunned. Looking from the outside in, people are viewing the apparent decline of Europe with an ounce of distrust and a ton of sadness. After all, Europe’s rapidly evolving know-how have traditionally been the single biggest driver of international competition as other countries sought to catch up and outperform it.
Today, most nations’ interest in Europe is limited to commerce and consumption. While China and India are eagerly trading with Europe, bulk-purchasing European technology and enjoying a steady flow of investments, they will not lose their sleep over the shrinking European markets. These two powerful civilisations’ developmental trajectory will not be affected by Europe’s woes in the slightest. African and Arab nations, on the other hand, are still embittered by the European colonisation. They are keeping a watchful eye on Europe’s worsening plight out of pure self-interest. Also, Turkey must be craving to capitalise on an enfeebled Europe. As for their allies stateside, their foreign policy and economic agenda suggest they are only sizing up their resources to force the Old World into submission.
Now, what are the root causes of this disheartening political turbulence? A quick answer would be attributing it to the degradation of Europe’s elites who have spent the past few decades merely cashing in on their affiliations with their senior American partners. To make matters worse, in the aftermath of the Cold War, they have not faced any serious competition, which naturally leads to the loss of focus. In this light, the brightest 1990s alumni of the College of Europe proved useful business hires, whereas the dumbest ones joined various foreign policy agencies.
In the early 21st century, as the EU was joined by a handful of smaller eastern European nations, the European political landscape struck an unmistakeable provincial notes as the continent’s most fundamental issues had to be approached through the lens of these smaller nations’ grievances. By now, the overall deterioration has become too obvious to be overlooked, and the glaring incompetence furnishes new evidence on a daily basis.
But the root cause goes deeper still. It can be characterised as a stark contrast between Europe’s waning value and a huge amount of the resources and know-how amassed over the past centuries. The long era of Europe’s global dominance made it obscenely rich and led to it possessing unmatched intellectual prowess. Except all of those riches have been rendered useless by the marked lack of strategic acumen.
Not even the nukes are of any help. France has it, but this fact alone fails to add to the country’s international standing. Its entire political system has been limited to President Macron’s own little playground, which is eerily similar to the political manoeuvring exhibited by the Ukrainian authorities. Even being one of the world’s leading economies no longer translates into political clout. Just look at Germany failing to convert its economic achievements. The country’s political leadership and political will, for that matter, is crumbling in the face of their mighty overseas counterparts.
Europe’s arguably most politically active player when it comes to foreign policy is the UK. The only caveat is that the scope of its activity is, too, being straightjacketed by the US. The Brexit they pulled off shortly ahead of the global Covid-19 crisis has not led to a dramatic turnaround either.
In the early 20th century, World War I laid waste to the European empires of yore. Fast-forward to 2024 – and the Old World is faced with a predicament where it does have enough resources but seems inept and clueless about how to use them. Europe’s biggest foreign policy gain in recent years has been their tackling an ill-fated Moldova. But they have failed to do the same to Georgia where the government proves to be a hard nut to crack. The only part of the continent where the European elites are running the show is the former Yugoslavia. Following these countries’ Nato bombings, they have been ruthlessly squeezed into the West’s geopolitical landscape.
But by far, the most shocking aspect of it all is the pronounced lack of Europe’s self-awareness. Even Europe’s top public intellectuals have been instrumental in building and maintaining the wall that separates them from reality. This applies to domestic policy as well. With the rising popularity of the non-establishment political parties, people are getting increasingly blasted by the European ruling class over the ‘wrong boxes’ they have ticked at the polls. And this denial of reality is particularly conspicuous in the foreign policy realm where the European leaders are clearly overplaying their political and economic hand.
Europe keeps treading the beaten path without realising its own decline and the evolving reality. In a sense, this dogged stubbornness is is even worthy of respect. However, the toolset of global politics has nothing to do with that of the glass bead game. The behavioural patterns that render countries and entire civilisations useless starts gnawing away at their massive material and spiritual wealth.
Europe’s daunting intellectual and moral stall encroaches on their centuries-old civilisational gains that used to be helpful even to the development of the continent’s rivals. Now these other countries will be looking somewhere else in search of inspiration and motivation.