Israel continues a war that inflicts immense and unjustifiable suffering on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, and the European Union assists substantially inertly. It continues to deplore the unacceptable number of civilian casualties, the hunger inflicted on the people, without even being able to question its association agreement with the country.
Russia, despite suffering enormous attrition, continues to advance in Ukraine, while the will to resist the brutal and illegal invasion seems to evaporate. While waiting to see what happens in the US elections, the EU has done many things to support kyiv, but it is years away from being able to provide what is needed for the defense of the attacked country if the US relents. support.
Meanwhile, in Europe and throughout the West, immigration policies are making their way that buy into far-right approaches in an increasingly unapologetic way, in some cases with solid indications of violation of international law. Macron approved a law so harsh that Le Pen voted for it. In the EU, clear symptoms of regression are detected. The resistance of a group of countries has prevented the recently held European Council from giving an explicit blessing to the Meloni model, but the steps backwards are notable and the leaders have given in the summit conclusions a mandate to explore all options, also requiring to the Commission urgently new legislation on the matter when an already quite retrograde migration pact was approved very recently.
In environmental matters, there are also signs in the EU of a decline in the will to protect the natural environment and to proceed decisively in the green transition, as illustrated by the Commission’s recent decision to postpone the application of the law against deforestation for one year. .
On a global scale, several studies agree in indicating a deterioration in democratic quality.
None of this should induce catastrophism, much less resignation. As Steven Pinker eloquently highlighted at the World in Progress forum this week, we live in the best world history has ever known in terms of life expectancy, literacy rates, incidence of hunger and other measures. Likewise, despite the problems mentioned, in Europe there are also hopeful long-term developments and also some appreciable political dynamics, such as the issuance of common debt for pandemic funds. There are admirable signs of resistance, some of which come from the judiciary, as in the case of the Italian court that has questioned the Melonian immigration model, as the British previously did with the Rwandan one, and the international courts that are scrutinizing the Israeli action.
But this should not deceive us regarding a correct diagnosis of the state of the political struggle in Europe and, more generally, in the West. Those in favor of an unwavering respect for human rights and an adherence to the spirit of democracy that does not accept looking the other way from time to time are losing. They are gaining, under the strong push of far-right narratives, positions that erode both.
The fundamental problem is not only the ground lost so far, but perspective. In the face of this erosion, there is no sign of authentic political strength to counteract it, change the dynamic, change the framework. The German Government is in a terminal state, and the future is not promising, with a CDU led by someone who proposed completely suspending the right of asylum for Syrians and Afghans, an unleashed extreme right and a trembling social democracy.
It is even doubtful that the current French Government will come to real life, and if so, it would have an unfortunate congenital defect of dependence on the extreme right. The French future prospects are not, let’s say, encouraging. Italy and the Netherlands are in the hands of the extreme right. In Spain, a social democratic government resists, faced with a conglomerate of multiform opposition forces that not only sit in the chamber and in whose encephalogram and cardiogram it is difficult to detect recognizable signs such as scruples. He says things that put him on the right side of history regarding Israel or immigration, but his record of action accumulates stains — certain principles seem to blur when applied to Morocco, certain appointments seem to weaken rather than strengthen institutions and certain cases smell like cleaned dirt much better than the counterpart but still only half-and, furthermore, its internal political weakness reduces its ability to project.
Can the European Commission compensate for these national deficits? It seems doubtful. Von der Leyen went to visit the Israelis, but not the Palestinians, and clearly veered towards immigration positions of expulsions with little consideration, and with many fences and concertina. The college, as a whole, suffers from the projection of national political dynamics although, in theory, the commissioners should be independent. Where will the Italian, Dutch, Hungarian, etc. commissioners go? There’s a slab there too.
History exhibits positive surprises that no one saw coming, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall. There may be others. A ceasefire may take hold in Gaza; maybe Trump will lose. However, it is clear that the outlook is not encouraging, because even specific successes may not serve to reverse underlying trends.
But there is no justification for resignation. This column is titled “we are losing,” not “we have lost.” It’s time to take blows and keep fighting, working. Article 4 of the Italian Constitution then comes to mind, which from the outset recognizes all citizens the right to work. It then imposes on all citizens the duty to carry out, according to their own possibilities and inclinations, an activity or function that contributes to the material or spiritual progress of society. We are called to do this in the face of this retrograde wave: it is a duty. To work to resist it, without ever descending into their pedestrian methods, which may perhaps win some victory on their part, but always end up leading to collective defeats.