https://sputnikglobe.com/20220723/europe-suffers-from-leadership-crisis-brought-to-light-by-ukrainian-conflict-experts-believe-1097724852.html
Europe Suffers From Leadership Crisis Brought to Light by Ukrainian Conflict, Experts Believe
Europe Suffers From Leadership Crisis Brought to Light by Ukrainian Conflict, Experts Believe
Sputnik International
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Europe is suffering from a crisis of leadership as its ruling classes are detached from reality and lack the gravitas of the European... 23.07.2022, Sputnik International
2022-07-23T12:33+0000
2022-07-23T12:33+0000
2023-04-12T17:15+0000
ukraine
hungary
sanctions
france
italy
european union (eu)
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On Thursday, Italian heavyweight Mario Draghi resigned from the office of prime minister after a member of the then-ruling coalition, the Five-Star Movement, refused to take part in the vote of confidence in the government. The United Kingdom recently saw Boris Johnson being pressured by the Conservative Party, including his own cabinet members, to give up party leadership and premiership due to multiple scandals that had plagued the final months of his government.At the same time, the leader of another major European power, French President Emmanuel Macron, has failed to secure the majority in the French lower house, as both National Rally and the leftist NUPES coalition made impressive gains. This turn of events has undermined the president's agenda, as he now cannot easily pass bills through the legislature and has to work with uncooperative opposition.According to writer and researcher Thomas Fazi, this state of affairs in Europe is an "organic crisis" of what he describes as the neoliberal economic and political regime that has been controlling Europe. One of the aspects of the regime is believed to be a deliberate expulsion of the masses from the democratic decision-making process.Europe's national elites have also gotten used to transferring their duties to the European Union, which relieved them from making important economic and political decisions, with the actual decision-making relegated to bureaucrats in Brussels and Frankfurt. This resulted in a political class that is detached from reality, "pathologically infantile" and can get away with nearly everything due to citizens' apathy, Fazi said."All this has become evident with the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, as European leaders have not only adopted a series of suicidal economic decisions — aptly called by many 'auto-sanctions' — that are plunging millions of people into poverty and laying ruin to Europe’s industries, but the economic and political effects of which our leaders are insulated from (for now)," Fazi said.Srdja Trifkovic, the foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles, drew parallels between the current geopolitical situation and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, as well as the later years of the Cold War when France had presidents like Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Giscard d’Estaing and Francois Mitterrand. He also referred to German Chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt.The expert suggested that Europe can recover by following the example of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who "fights to preserve the authenticity of his nation, its traditions, its social and state institutions, against the aggressive, totalitarian Brussels machine."However, the experts have different views on how the current political crisis in Europe will play out. Fazi predicts a populist-democratic wave in the West, saying that European leaders should be wary of this or things could take a turn for the worse. Trifkovic, for his part, painted a more somber picture of rapidly declining Europe, dismissing the idea of popular revolt as unlikely.
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ukraine, hungary, sanctions, france, italy, european union (eu)
ukraine, hungary, sanctions, france, italy, european union (eu)
Europe Suffers From Leadership Crisis Brought to Light by Ukrainian Conflict, Experts Believe
12:33 GMT 23.07.2022 (Updated: 17:15 GMT 12.04.2023) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Europe is suffering from a crisis of leadership as its ruling classes are detached from reality and lack the gravitas of the European leaders of the past, as has been revealed by the conflict in Ukraine, some experts believe.
On Thursday, Italian heavyweight Mario Draghi resigned from the office of prime minister after a member of the then-ruling coalition, the Five-Star Movement, refused to take part in the vote of confidence in the government. The United Kingdom recently saw Boris Johnson being pressured by the Conservative Party, including his own cabinet members, to give up party leadership and premiership due to multiple scandals that had plagued the final months of his government.
At the same time, the leader of another major European power, French President Emmanuel Macron, has failed to secure the majority in the French lower house, as both National Rally and the leftist NUPES coalition made impressive gains. This turn of events has undermined the president's agenda, as he now cannot easily pass bills through the legislature and has to work with uncooperative opposition.
According to writer and researcher Thomas Fazi, this state of affairs in Europe is an "organic crisis" of what he describes as the neoliberal economic and political regime that has been controlling Europe. One of the aspects of the regime is believed to be a deliberate expulsion of the masses from the democratic decision-making process.
"The result has been that over the years our political elites have become increasingly captured by Big Business and just as increasingly insulated from the needs and interests of workers and the economy at large. Indeed, several Western leaders aren’t just puppets in the hands of ruling capitalist elites — they are direct representatives of such elites, such as in the case of Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi," Fazi said.
Europe's national elites have also gotten used to transferring their duties to the European Union, which relieved them from making important economic and political decisions, with the actual decision-making relegated to bureaucrats in Brussels and Frankfurt. This resulted in a political class that is detached from reality, "pathologically infantile" and can get away with nearly everything due to citizens' apathy, Fazi said.
"All this has become evident with the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, as European leaders have not only adopted a series of suicidal economic decisions — aptly called by many 'auto-sanctions' — that are plunging millions of people into poverty and laying ruin to Europe’s industries, but the economic and political effects of which our leaders are insulated from (for now)," Fazi said.
Srdja Trifkovic, the foreign affairs editor for the paleoconservative magazine Chronicles, drew parallels between the current geopolitical situation and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, as well as the later years of the Cold War when France had presidents like Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Giscard d’Estaing and Francois Mitterrand. He also referred to German Chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt.
"Today there are none of their caliber. We have cartoon characters such as the semiliterate Annalena Baerbock at the helm of the German foreign ministry, and the geography-challenged Liz Truss at the head of the British Foreign Office, which is just tragicomic," Trifkovic lamented.
The expert suggested that Europe can recover by following the example of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who "fights to preserve the authenticity of his nation, its traditions, its social and state institutions, against the aggressive, totalitarian Brussels machine."
However, the experts have different views on how the current political crisis in Europe will play out. Fazi predicts a populist-democratic wave in the West, saying that European leaders should be wary of this or things could take a turn for the worse. Trifkovic, for his part, painted a more somber picture of rapidly declining Europe, dismissing the idea of popular revolt as unlikely.
