In France, the financial crisis and social protests intersect with the rise of the right, while the upcoming elections are viewed as a test for the future of the Republic and its European role. In Italy, the Prime Minister's criticism of the American-Russian understanding regarding diesel supplies reveals the scale of the crisis in foreign policy; Washington, which is supposed to be a strategic ally, is today making decisions that clearly conflict with European calculations, while Moscow is investing everything to inflict damage on the entire West.
Europe always adopts principled idealism in international politics, which is why it is stuck today and unable to keep pace with changing variables quickly enough or with realistic tools that protect its interests. A principle, regardless of its value and symbolism, may not be enough on its own to face the new global dynamic, nor to convince peoples to bear the burdens of a war of attrition, nor to guarantee energy and economic security.
Ultimately, this is the most suitable environment in which the populist right finds its opportunity. For example, it views immigration as the factor striking at security and identity and causing economic decline, turning all of this into a strong political project that has begun to reach power in several countries. The citizens of these countries have the right to preserve their states and not surrender their fate because there is legislation based on general human rights principles to which their governments adhere.
The continuation of this scenario could lead to something resembling a domino collapse: the rise of the right in one country, then the electoral contagion spreading to another, leading to parliaments and governments that redefine Europe's relationship with the "other."
Europe is also facing an unpredictable American foreign policy, as the latter prioritizes its momentary interest-based perspective at the expense of the cohesion of alliances, leaving Europe to face a difficult question: How can it rely for security on an ally that may take decisions that conflict with its strategic interests? The example is the recent diesel deal between Russia and the United States.
However, we in our region must not view Europe's weakness as an internal affair far from us; recent European positions on Middle Eastern issues, despite their disparity, have contributed to maintaining a space for legal and diplomatic pressure on Israel, for example, and provided a degree of balance that we might lose.
We need a strong Europe, not because it is an alternative to Washington or an opponent of Moscow, but because it can be an independent pole and a representative of rational, sober discourse in a world where power is advancing over law in a crude manner.
Europe today needs an uprising in its foreign policy, based on state realism rather than the rose-tinted nature of slogans, and a realization that alliances are not managed based solely on the sanctity of individual rights, and that the collective interest of peoples is what provides welfare for individuals, not the other way around.
This continent has an influential role in the world as is known, and it must first regain the ability to influence, otherwise we may witness a major imbalance in the scales, or even find ourselves facing difficult choices one day, especially in a region considered a theater for the operations of international powers.
