Europe Heads into the Abyss of Its Fears

Well-established structures of the global political economy have been going through a radical transformation, a process that acquired extra speed in the aftermath of the global economic crisis. Yet, the fundamental transformative forces pushing for profound global change are certainly not working in favor of Europe – that’s for sure. The global geostrategic competition between the U.S. and Russia, which escalated through unilateral interventions by Putin into Crimea and Syria, continues to create local-regional hot spots of tension, along with occasional instances of collaboration.

Meanwhile, the geo-economic competition between the U.S. and China is just about to turn ugly with the blunt declarations by the Trump administration to undermine Beijing’s exponential rise through protectionism and repressive measures. As the hegemonic attention of Washington, D.C. starts to shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific axis around critical questions such as the military/technological ascendancy of China or the rivalry between China and Japan in the South China Sea, the geostrategic and geo-economic importance of the old continent continues to diminish in a gradual but steady manner.

Europe’s continual strategic decline was triggered through the juxtaposition of many diverse but interrelated developments. To start with, the unveiling of the euro crisis in its southern wing led by Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy displayed substantial economic weaknesses and deep regional discrepancies in the EU. Massive bailout packages financed by the core EU countries created strong reactions on the part of taxpayers and undermined the spirit of European unity, triggering debates on a multi-tier Europe.

Almost simultaneously, the explosion of the Arab revolutions and authoritarian reversals in many Middle Eastern countries leading to civil wars or dictatorship under the watchful eyes of the EU significantly undermined the credibility of the “European values” rhetoric on the basis of fundamental human rights and freedoms. Cold War symptoms of supporting authoritarian regimes for economic and geostrategic gains continued, while schemes developed to support democracy in the Middle East such as the Barcelona process collapsed completely.

In the meantime, fears of economic crisis, regional disintegration, marginalization and strategic decline triggered the rise of extreme far-right political movements across the Continent with strong xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric. The critical shift in national political spectrums from the mainstream center-right and center-left to the far-right and left questioning established structures and institutions occurred within a handful of years. The emergence of anti-systemic far-left movements in the aftermath of the economic crisis such as Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain spearheaded the political shift, the tide gradually turning towards far-right movements in both peripheral and core members of the EU. Socio-political movements spreading xenophobia and hatred toward ethno-religious minorities increased their effectiveness over the course of recent years through a global network of think tanks, media empires, academic associations, etc. The unlikely election of Donald Trump to the American presidency carried the far-right tone of political marginalization to the U.S., while the Brexit shock gave the first warning shot of European disintegration.

As the world heads toward an era of more intensive geopolitical rivalry and hegemonic competition among the established and emerging powers, Europe is not standing as a firm and united actor anymore. This fact is feeding into fears of economic collapse, social dislocation, political marginalization, policy ineffectiveness and systemic collapse. On top of that, Europe is suffering from an intellectual drought and the absence of charismatic leaders with integrative visions such as Conrad Adenauer, Jean Monnet or Willy Brandt. In this context, the towering political figure of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who positions Turkey in the global system as an autonomous emerging power and challenges European establishments by openly declaring their inconsistencies, double standards and weaknesses, has triggered a plethora of fears and phobias in the continent.

Therefore, the chain of diplomatically unacceptable actions of political authorities across European countries, including Germany, Netherlands, Austria and Norway in recent weeks, ought to be read as explicit manifestations of various “Euro-fears.” Turkey will probably draw a new road map for her future in the aftermath of the critical constitutional referendum, but the old continent is rapidly losing its promise for preserving human dignity, fundamental rights and liberties in the deep abyss of its exaggerated fears.

[Daily Sabah, March 25, 2017]