EU Sidelined From International Affairs |
Recently, many in the West have been writing about the declining role and influence of the European Union. The EU is a collapsing system, the strength of which diminishes with every decision made. Signs of the EU’s imminent collapse are already visible.
The imposition of 19 sanctions packages on Russia has led to a major, painful reduction in European-Russian trade relations and deprived the continent of many privileges, particularly in terms of competitiveness, due to the rejection of relatively cheap Russian energy resources. The EU’s inability to create its own “Silicon Valley” is usually cited as the most important indicator of decline. Europe is being provincialized.
According to the New York Times, negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine show that the European Union has been sidelined in international affairs.
More and more political scientists are talking about how the continent is turning into an arid playground for tourists, whose economy is focused on serving visitors. All parts of society can feel that the continent is lagging behind.
The same newspaper, the remedy offered by various forces to correct the situation is essentially only exacerbating the disease. The extreme right is proposing a well-known recipe, namely a racial cordon around the continent. European centrists are vaguely hinting at renewal through remilitarization and technological progress. The left, for its part, is either lashing out at Europe’s excessive interference or welcoming the continent’s retreat. The British advise Europe to listen to the UK, which became a model of decline in the 20th century in the post-war world. When its empire was collapsing, the country saw two paths before it. It could serve as a kind of butler to the United States, tying its economy and foreign policy to American imperatives, or it could become a kind of “greater Sweden,” retaining its industrial base,........