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By Louis Perez y Cid
The Story of a Power That Gave Up
I am talking about our Europe, not as it is portrayed, but as it has objectively become within the international system.
Here I highlight the power dynamics, which is precisely the role of history.
Here I highlight the power dynamics, which is precisely the role of history.
The European Paradox
Europe is a historical paradox.
It is the continent that invented the modern state, sovereignty, taxation, industrial warfare, capitalism, international law, and political universalism. It dominated the world for several centuries before collapsing under the weight of its own rivalries.
Today, Europe is neither poor nor weak in a material sense. It is rich, educated, technologically advanced, and demographically significant. Yet, it is no longer a sovereign political power. It is more acted upon than acted upon. It reacts more than it decides.
This decline is not accidental. It is the product of a specific history.
It is the continent that invented the modern state, sovereignty, taxation, industrial warfare, capitalism, international law, and political universalism. It dominated the world for several centuries before collapsing under the weight of its own rivalries.
Today, Europe is neither poor nor weak in a material sense. It is rich, educated, technologically advanced, and demographically significant. Yet, it is no longer a sovereign political power. It is more acted upon than acted upon. It reacts more than it decides.
This decline is not accidental. It is the product of a specific history.
Europe before Europe: Power, Conflict, and Self-Destruction
During Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Europe was structured around constant rivalries. The Greek city-states invented politics but exhausted themselves in war. Rome unified a vast territory, then collapsed under its own weight. The Middle Ages saw the emergence of competing kingdoms, overseen by the Church, the only lasting transnational institution.
From the Renaissance onward, Europe entered a phase of global domination. It conquered, colonized, and exploited. It imposed its languages, religions, and economic models. But this expansion did not produce unity; it exported violence while simultaneously perpetuating it on the continent. The religious wars, dynastic rivalries, and then the national conflicts of the 19th century led to the apotheosis of European power… and its suicide.
From the Renaissance onward, Europe entered a phase of global domination. It conquered, colonized, and exploited. It imposed its languages, religions, and economic models. But this expansion did not produce unity; it exported violence while simultaneously perpetuating it on the continent. The religious wars, dynastic rivalries, and then the national conflicts of the 19th century led to the apotheosis of European power… and its suicide.
The World Wars.
The End of Europe as Mistress of its Destiny.
The First World War marked a definitive break. Europe unleashed a conflict it was incapable of controlling alone. The United States entered the war late, not out of moral solidarity, but out of economic and strategic self-interest. Its intervention was decisive.
After 1918, the United States attempted to impose a new world order through the League of Nations, then withdrew. Europe remained alone, weakened, unstable, and unable to prevent the rise of totalitarianism.
The 1929 crash, which originated in the United States, dealt a severe blow to a Europe dependent on American capital. The economic crisis fueled authoritarian regimes, particularly in Germany.
The Second World War completed the process. Europe became a battlefield. Its liberation once again depended on external forces. By 1945, the continent was ruined, demographically weakened, and politically discredited.
The center of the world had shifted.
The First World War marked a definitive break. Europe unleashed a conflict it was incapable of controlling alone. The United States entered the war late, not out of moral solidarity, but out of economic and strategic self-interest. Its intervention was decisive.
After 1918, the United States attempted to impose a new world order through the League of Nations, then withdrew. Europe remained alone, weakened, unstable, and unable to prevent the rise of totalitarianism.
The 1929 crash, which originated in the United States, dealt a severe blow to a Europe dependent on American capital. The economic crisis fueled authoritarian regimes, particularly in Germany.
The Second World War completed the process. Europe became a battlefield. Its liberation once again depended on external forces. By 1945, the continent was ruined, demographically weakened, and politically discredited.
The center of the world had shifted.
The United States: Protectors, Architects, and Dominators.
After 1945, the United States imposed a new international order. The Marshall Plan rebuilt Western Europe but integrated it into a liberal economic system dominated by the dollar. The Bretton Woods Agreements made the American currency the linchpin of world trade.
European security was entrusted to NATO, a military alliance under American command. For the first time in its history, Europe delegated its defense to a non-European power.
This domination was not brutal. It was rational, efficient, and accepted. It brought peace, prosperity, and stability. But it established a structural dependence—military, monetary, technological, and cultural.
Europe rebuilt itself, but it did not regain its sovereignty.
European security was entrusted to NATO, a military alliance under American command. For the first time in its history, Europe delegated its defense to a non-European power.
This domination was not brutal. It was rational, efficient, and accepted. It brought peace, prosperity, and stability. But it established a structural dependence—military, monetary, technological, and cultural.
Europe rebuilt itself, but it did not regain its sovereignty.
Decolonization: A Loss of Power Under Constraint.
After 1945, Europe lost not only its strategic centrality but also its empires. Presented as a moral process based on the right of peoples to self-determination, decolonization was primarily part of a new global balance of power unfavorable to European powers.
The United States and the USSR, for different reasons, converged to weaken colonial empires. Washington saw them as an obstacle to free trade, Moscow as an imperialist domination to be overthrown. Weakened, indebted, and dependent on American aid, Europe had little room for maneuver. The Marshall Plan, while enabling reconstruction, reinforced this constraint; maintaining empires became incompatible with integration into the Western order dominated by the United States.
Decolonization thus resulted as much from a loss of the capacity to impose force as from a moral choice. It coincided with Europe's renunciation of an independent military power and accelerated its strategic decline. Deprived of the resources, markets, and levers of influence provided by empires, Europe retreated to its continental space, while the United States acquired influence a global power without formal colonies.
Decolonization thus marked a definitive break; Europe ceased to be an imperial center and became a collection of medium-sized states, dependent on external guarantees for their security and prosperity.
The United States and the USSR, for different reasons, converged to weaken colonial empires. Washington saw them as an obstacle to free trade, Moscow as an imperialist domination to be overthrown. Weakened, indebted, and dependent on American aid, Europe had little room for maneuver. The Marshall Plan, while enabling reconstruction, reinforced this constraint; maintaining empires became incompatible with integration into the Western order dominated by the United States.
Decolonization thus resulted as much from a loss of the capacity to impose force as from a moral choice. It coincided with Europe's renunciation of an independent military power and accelerated its strategic decline. Deprived of the resources, markets, and levers of influence provided by empires, Europe retreated to its continental space, while the United States acquired influence a global power without formal colonies.
Decolonization thus marked a definitive break; Europe ceased to be an imperial center and became a collection of medium-sized states, dependent on external guarantees for their security and prosperity.
European integration. Peace through the market.
Faced with the chaos of the past and under the American umbrella, Europeans made an unprecedented choice: to link their economies to prevent war. The ECSC, then the EEC, and finally the European Union were born from a cold calculation: to make conflict materially impossible.
This integration was a historic success. No other continent has transformed war into cooperation in such a lasting way.
But this success came at a price. Europe was built without a state, without an army, without a unified political people. It prioritized rules over power, law over coercion, and economics over strategy.
It became a power of rules in a world of forces.
This integration was a historic success. No other continent has transformed war into cooperation in such a lasting way.
But this success came at a price. Europe was built without a state, without an army, without a unified political people. It prioritized rules over power, law over coercion, and economics over strategy.
It became a power of rules in a world of forces.
The 21st century. The return of tragedy.
The end of the Cold War fostered the illusion of a peaceful world. It was short-lived.
Financial crises, regional wars, terrorism, the pandemic, and then the war in Ukraine serve as a stark reminder of a simple reality: history is not moral, it is conflictual.
The war in Ukraine starkly reveals Europe's position. Without the United States, Europe is incapable of sustaining a high-intensity conflict. The sanctions it imposes hit its own economy harder than those of its adversaries. Its industry is shrinking, its energy costs are rising, and its dependence is increasing.
At the same time, China is planning, investing, and securing its value chains. It treats power as a fact, not a taboo.
The heart of the matter: Sovereignty denied.
Europe is not weak for lack of resources. It is weak because it refuses to accept the implications of sovereignty. To be sovereign, it must:
• accept conflict,
• bear the cost of power,
• subordinate the economy to strategy,
• choose, and therefore exclude.
Europe has chosen balance, compromise, and regulation. These qualities are precious in times of peace. They become weaknesses in a world of rivalries.
Financial crises, regional wars, terrorism, the pandemic, and then the war in Ukraine serve as a stark reminder of a simple reality: history is not moral, it is conflictual.
The war in Ukraine starkly reveals Europe's position. Without the United States, Europe is incapable of sustaining a high-intensity conflict. The sanctions it imposes hit its own economy harder than those of its adversaries. Its industry is shrinking, its energy costs are rising, and its dependence is increasing.
At the same time, China is planning, investing, and securing its value chains. It treats power as a fact, not a taboo.
The heart of the matter: Sovereignty denied.
Europe is not weak for lack of resources. It is weak because it refuses to accept the implications of sovereignty. To be sovereign, it must:
• accept conflict,
• bear the cost of power,
• subordinate the economy to strategy,
• choose, and therefore exclude.
Europe has chosen balance, compromise, and regulation. These qualities are precious in times of peace. They become weaknesses in a world of rivalries.
An uncomfortable choice?
Europe is not a victim.
It is a continent that has chosen security over sovereignty.
It has traded power for comfort, decisiveness for procedure, tragedy for morality. This choice has given it eighty years of peace, a historic achievement, but it has transformed it into a protected space rather than an autonomous actor.
The world is not punishing Europe. It is using it.
As long as Europe refuses to accept the potential violence of politics, it will remain dependent on those who accept it in its place. Power does not disappear; it changes hands.
It is a continent that has chosen security over sovereignty.
It has traded power for comfort, decisiveness for procedure, tragedy for morality. This choice has given it eighty years of peace, a historic achievement, but it has transformed it into a protected space rather than an autonomous actor.
The world is not punishing Europe. It is using it.
As long as Europe refuses to accept the potential violence of politics, it will remain dependent on those who accept it in its place. Power does not disappear; it changes hands.
Europe or Abdication
European history is unequivocal: civilizations that relinquish their sovereignty do not disappear through conquest, but through abdication.
The war in Ukraine is not merely a regional conflict; it acts as a brutal revealer. Russia has neither the means nor the intention to invade Europe. It seeks to secure its borders and restore a sphere of influence. Meanwhile, Europe finances, aligns itself, expresses outrage, but no longer makes decisions. Deprived of independent military, energy, and diplomatic power, it is no longer an actor, but a stage.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, if confirmed as an American action, would constitute a blatant act of vassalage, the deliberate destruction of a European strategic interest in the name of an external agenda. It would also be the harbinger of a Western order at the end of its cycle.
What does Europe say about the forced abduction of a Venezuelan head of state, sent to the United States to stand trial, in blatant violation of international law?
Absolutely nothing.
Europe observes, perhaps inwardly indignant, then remains silent. In doing so, it confirms its role as a polite spectator of the balance of power. On the world stage, it is no longer a player, but the board itself, a carefully wrapped piece of meat, placed among the carnivores.
Europe is now faced with an alternative that history never leaves open indefinitely.
Accept its dependence and decline, or become once again a sovereign power, responsible for its own destiny.
Indecision is not an option. It never has been.
Note.
Before pondering the future, read this text by Victor Hugo, his speech at the Peace Congress, Paris, 1849.
“In the past, Normandy waged war on Brittany, Burgundy on Champagne, Provence on Dauphiné. Today, there are no more wars between these provinces; they are all united and fused into the nation. The same will one day be true for Europe… The United States of Europe.”
Who knows? The law is yours.
The war in Ukraine is not merely a regional conflict; it acts as a brutal revealer. Russia has neither the means nor the intention to invade Europe. It seeks to secure its borders and restore a sphere of influence. Meanwhile, Europe finances, aligns itself, expresses outrage, but no longer makes decisions. Deprived of independent military, energy, and diplomatic power, it is no longer an actor, but a stage.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, if confirmed as an American action, would constitute a blatant act of vassalage, the deliberate destruction of a European strategic interest in the name of an external agenda. It would also be the harbinger of a Western order at the end of its cycle.
What does Europe say about the forced abduction of a Venezuelan head of state, sent to the United States to stand trial, in blatant violation of international law?
Absolutely nothing.
Europe observes, perhaps inwardly indignant, then remains silent. In doing so, it confirms its role as a polite spectator of the balance of power. On the world stage, it is no longer a player, but the board itself, a carefully wrapped piece of meat, placed among the carnivores.
Europe is now faced with an alternative that history never leaves open indefinitely.
Accept its dependence and decline, or become once again a sovereign power, responsible for its own destiny.
Indecision is not an option. It never has been.
Note.
Before pondering the future, read this text by Victor Hugo, his speech at the Peace Congress, Paris, 1849.
“In the past, Normandy waged war on Brittany, Burgundy on Champagne, Provence on Dauphiné. Today, there are no more wars between these provinces; they are all united and fused into the nation. The same will one day be true for Europe… The United States of Europe.”
Who knows? The law is yours.