Europe today finds itself in a fascinating time period. The collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a new era, bringing the nations of Europe closer together again. However, success is not all we are seeing in Europe, as many problems and dilemma’s have arisen as well. The economic inequality between EU member-states, the massive flows of migrants, the debate between sovereignty and federalism within the EU, the disagreement about the direction and polarization in European parliaments, and these are only the most blatantly obvious. Over the coming years, Europe will need to decide in which direction it is heading and how it wishes to shape the future. So far Europe has generally responded in a ‘reactive’ way, coming up with solutions after a problem occurred. In order to become ‘proactive’ Europe will need to figure out where it stands in the world. Europe will need a better understanding of internal cultural differences and power struggles, as well as figuring out where it stands on a global level. The ‘West vs East’ bi-polar distribution of power in the world ended decades ago, and it is clear the world is starting to move away from the mono-power of the United States.
Europe started to lose its position as a center of power after the First World War, and disappeared into the shadows after the Second World War. Living in the shadows of world superpowers these last centuries, Europe appears to have forgotten a part of its history, and with that a part of its identity. In essence, we believe Europe is lost. Europe has forgotten its location; geographically, politically and historically. Note that when we speak of ‘Europe’, we are talking about the people in the geographical region of Europe, from Atlantic to Bosporus and the Ural mountains.
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