We need a united Europe
National member states are blocking the ability for Europe to defend its citizens' interests with a strong voice on the global stage.
The hard truth that many European politicians are unwilling to confess is that the individual states of Europe basically do not matter anymore. Not the UK, not France, not even Germany. They all retain their strengths and their areas of influence to varying degrees, but none of them are world powers anymore. Those countries who are global powers or rising powers, the US, China, India, they do not consider individual European states to have much importance. If some are these countries are non-plussed about the impact of Brexit, it's because they believe the UK is not a world player anyway, not because they think Brexit will be a success.
But why does it matter? What does it mean for us to have a small, diminished voice on the world stage?
"Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must" - Thucydides, the Melian dialogue.
Now while I do not sign up entirely to this worldview, it would be foolish to completely ignore the reality of international power politics. Less power means less ability to defend our interests and having to comply to the preferences of others more often.
While Brexiteers and other nationalists talk about the idea of a large federation in Europe as though it is the coming of Satan, the simple truth is that this is the model for powerful states of the future. The established and rising global superpowers are all, in constitutional law or in practice, large federations bringing together hundreds of millions of people. This ranges from states whose populations are slightly smaller than a potential European Federation (the US), through to states that are twice as big (China, India).
It will primarily be these powerful states who will define the global order. This is an inevitability. While institutions have been set up that help level playing the field between states (and we should continue to endorse that kind of multilateralism) we cannot pretend that power no longer matters.
We will want this global order to look a certain way: we will have expressed views on trade, democracy, tolerance, freedom of thought and religion. Not all states will agree with us on all those points. Some powerful states, such as China, have important differences with regards to democracy and individual rights and freedoms. Our view of the world is therefore not a given, it must be fought for and defended.
How will we be able to do this? Only as a united federal Europe will we have the global influence and power to defend our interests. The alternative will be to see ourselves reduced to glorified lobbyists, knocking at the doors of powerful states, hoping that they will give us a sympathetic hearing.
To secure our present, defend our future and see our values succeed in the world, we need a united Europe.
While Brexiteers and other nationalists talk about the idea of a large federation in Europe as though it is the coming of Satan, the simple truth is that this is the model for powerful states of the future. The established and rising global superpowers are all, in constitutional law or in practice, large federations bringing together hundreds of millions of people. This ranges from states whose populations are slightly smaller than a potential European Federation (the US), through to states that are twice as big (China, India).
It will primarily be these powerful states who will define the global order. This is an inevitability. While institutions have been set up that help level playing the field between states (and we should continue to endorse that kind of multilateralism) we cannot pretend that power no longer matters.
We will want this global order to look a certain way: we will have expressed views on trade, democracy, tolerance, freedom of thought and religion. Not all states will agree with us on all those points. Some powerful states, such as China, have important differences with regards to democracy and individual rights and freedoms. Our view of the world is therefore not a given, it must be fought for and defended.
How will we be able to do this? Only as a united federal Europe will we have the global influence and power to defend our interests. The alternative will be to see ourselves reduced to glorified lobbyists, knocking at the doors of powerful states, hoping that they will give us a sympathetic hearing.
To secure our present, defend our future and see our values succeed in the world, we need a united Europe.
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