The European Union in the Era of Polarization

One important factor seems to be neglected in our European political, public, and even academic discourse – namely, that the European Union (EU), being a result of much longer process of European integration, was born at the time of the greatest triumph of Western civilization. The Treaty of Maastricht coincided with the collapse of the USSR and the bi-polar Cold War international order, and with the emergence of the Unipolar Moment, as Charles Krauthammer has famously coined it (Krauthammer 1990). That was the era of the absolute domination of the United States of America in the world. Liberal democracy and checks and balances were seen as an almost universal political system, joined by “market fundamentalism” (Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman and more) under the umbrella of the Washington Consensus in economic sphere. These mixture brought about, as is well known, “the end of History” thesis of Francis Fukuyama – that is, it excluded any alternative (TINA) to the new political and economic orthodoxy or ideology. The then new-born EU is the child of this era of great triumph and optimism in the West. The end of the Cold War order was first of all the US’s unparalleled success, but also that of Western Europe. The former three Communities (Coal and Steel, Euratom, and EEC) were replaced – step by step – by the EU, new enlargements were on the horizon, both to the EFTA countries and those behind the former Iron Curtain. Having a “soft power” status the EU has combined its strength in the financial and economic dominion with a commitment to humanitarian aid, economic assistance programs, international institutions and patient, multilateral diplomacy. The triumphant spirit of the new-born EU was visible and could be easily detected in the intellectual discourse of the time. It was stressed especially in the beginning of the new century (and Millenium), when – please, recall – Mark Leonard was explaining in the renown “Foreign Affairs” magazine “Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century”, (Leonard 2005) while Jeremy Rifkin announced a new era of “The European Dream”, that, what more, would soon eclipse the former American Dream (Rifkin 2004). And all integration processes then proceeded toward one crucial end: to construct a Europe (the EU) that is increasingly united, under the famous motto: Ever closer Union. What has happened then that the same Mark Leonard, together with another liberal thinker, Ivan Krastev, has recently published in the same magazine another study, entitled “Europe’s Shattered Dream of Order”? (Leonard and Krastev 2015). Why is the French President Emmanuel Macron in stark warning saying to “The Economist” that Europe is “on the edge of precipice” and could even “disappear geopolitically”? (The Economist 2019). While the departing president of the European Council Donald Tusk is replacing the once famous slogan of Bill Clinton, “It’s the economy, stupid”, with another one: “Unity, stupid”? (Euronews 2019). Even if this is an oversimplification, it sends a strong political message: economics is not everything anymore; we in the EU need to stay politically and socially unified, be more open and polite to each other, have some more solidarity and empathy among us, as the deep divide is at the root of our current predicament. This short academic intervention is an attempt to explain what is the reason behind these dramatic change of tide, and the replacement of our former optimism by dark visions. Another crucial question in also warranted: what has brought about the completely new parlance of the elite and gloomy, or even blunt description of the EU and its role in current domestic and affairs?