A Dose of Eurorealism

Date: 26‑08‑2021

Source: Project Syndicate by Javier Solana

Javier Solana, a former EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, secretary‑general of NATO, and foreign minister of Spain, is President of EsadeGeo – Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics and Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution. 

Europe must not reject complacency by embracing declinism. Rather than resigning themselves to inevitable decline, Europeans should recognize and celebrate Europe’s strengths, recognizing that its greatness consists in its being greater than the sum of its parts.

MADRID – The narrative is becoming a trope: the United States and China are locked in a battle for global supremacy in myriad fields such as technology, commerce, defense, cyberspace, and even outer space. Few pundits question the general consensus that Sino‑American relations will shape the history of the twenty‑first century. But analyzing today’s geopolitical scene as a byproduct of a two‑horse race is utterly simplistic and antiquated.

Our world is better described not in black and white, but as a kaleidoscope of shifting patterns. One key source of color is the European Union. In the current international environment, the EU is less noticed than it should be, but more noticed than it thinks.