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Many thanks and Happy New Year! One of your greatest video essays yet! It will help many fellow Europeans to start thinking about the important things. The younger generation needs exactly this hope. Can you share the slide show for this video please? Best wishes!
I dont think many people have a genuine problem with the idea of the EU and are aware that it is economic suicide to dispand it, but a lot of these people feel like the EU doesn't prioritize Europeans themselves in her policies, especially when it comes to migration. We need to make sure that we keep some sort of economic union at all cost, but the eu in its current form is slowly crashing into a wall. Secure borders would be a great start and hopefully evolve into a common defense policy, especially with a increasingly radical russia next door. But as long as people feel like the EU grows into something out of control and out of touch with individual citizens that wont happen. I really hope that we will get through whatever is coming in the future together.
One solution could be introducing elections specific for european comission president and change the EU parliament elections to pan-european parties. It would at least make it feel more like a conventional democratic process and closer to what people are used to
The EU should never have been more than economic and trade agreements. If NAFTA tried dictating domestic policies or immigration policies, American citizens would go to war.
Mate, I have a problem with the EU. Back in the days we could live in our own cities in The Netherlands. Right now, Polish, Georgian, German, Italians, etc are taking over our houses. Idem dito for jobs and we do not even talk about the 1 way stream of solidarity in the union. Better said, the west pays for the morals of the east... Dutch tax payer money is for the Europeans (better said East and South Europeans) but their tax paying money isnt for us. So f**k the EU and f**k the union.
@@josemiguelmatos3452 Changing it to pan-European is impossible. No German citizen would ever vote for a Polish, Latvian or Lithuanian candidate. On the other hand, German politicians and institutions have enough power and money to create puppet candidates in Eastern EU elections to win there.
I disagree wholeheartedly. Coalitions of the willing are doomed to fail. It leads to a race to the bottom where countries will contribute as little as they think they can get away with. As you mentioned regarding defense spending, central and western European countries will naturally choose to spend less if they can. This puts all the burden of defense on the Eastern European countries. This would only fuel resentment between countries, and open us up to be divided and conquered by outside parties like Russia and China. Your thesis that continued European integration is impossible is completely unhistorical. Europeans have at many times in history joined up into larger blocks, some of these have lasted for centuries. For the EU to work, we just have to realize that our adversaries are external, not internal. We also see support for the EU increasing year over year. Most populist "anti-EU" parties do not actually try to leave the union. They just dislike the EU's stance on immigration.
I agree! This analysis is so surface level and ungrounded... especially when considering the coalition of the willing. We even have a perfect example of this falling apart during the immigration crisis, where each country took it on their own how to deal with it. The result was arbitrary closing of borders, 0 solidarity between the member states and putting all the burden on the southern countries while trying to get away with as minimal of an investment as possible. The EU is heading in the right direction, but it is undeniable that the level of corruption and bureaucracy has to be dealt with.
Thanks for the comment! "we just have to realize" - if it was that simple, it would have been done long time ago. If countries don't want to spend on certain issues, but are forced to spend - how effective this spending really is? That's EU in one sentence. Bundeswehr is burning billions of euros more than eg. IDF. Which army is more effective? "Europeans have at many times in history joined up into larger blocks, some of these have lasted for centuries." - because these blocks united exactly along the hardcore interest of each polity
@@GoodTimesBadTimes the Bundeswehr vs. IDF comparison is not a good one. When did Bundeswehr last fought a war to compare it to IDF? One could say that the most effective army is the one that discourages others from attacking.
You disagree, because you haven't been paying attention. The current way of doing things is being rejected by more and more people. If you keep pushing the same solutions that you've been doing for the last 10 years, we're going to end up with the far-right in power and partition eastern europe like we did 100 years ago. We can't have the same countries profitting from this union, brain draining the rest and exploiting them for some charity. This will be the end of us.
@@Olifantenstaartthe German military is in a pitiful state and this is well known. This is not because it is such a great deterrent, it is because of wasteful and inept spending and resting on ones laurels.
> EU should have coalitions of the willing on specific issues with specific rules The US tried something like this with the Articles of Confederation between 1776-1781, it doesn't work.. It led to a race to the bottom where each State contributed as little as they thought they could get away with, and created a lot of resentment, because States kept asking "if nobody else was paying for the military or infrastructure then why the hell should I?" The USA tried to remain neutral in the Anglo-French Wars and trade with both sides, which led to both sides raiding their ships and enslaving their crews, and there were lots of pirates like the Barbary pirates doing the same. So the US got fed up with it and replaced the Articles of Confederation with the current Federalist Constitution to let Congress take taxes from the States by force rather than voluntarily, so they could raise a Navy to protect their merchant men from depredation. This has been tried before, federalism is the correct answer. The Europeans just haven't faced a crisis to force them to accept that answer yet like America did.
The EU already applies this principle of "coalitions of the willing" and it seem to work: Eurzone, Schengen, PESCO, EPPO, UPC, ESA... and many many more. Not all European States participate in everything. Only in initiatives that benefit them.
You are basically correct. Current state of affaires with the EU is somewhat different than the USA two hundred years ago. But over the next few centuries the EU has a better chance of surviving than the growing kleptocracy of the United States. The correct answer is education of the masses leading to federalism. The Europeans have already faced far more crisis than the US will in the next hundred years! And for the most part the people are better educated, it is the new generation in both countries that are willing to trade their liberties for the promises of security and prosperity that concerns me, that and the larger worldwide circle of parasitical oligarchs. It appears a class war is brewing. Internal stresses are likely to topple both Russia and China, freeing the way for unexpected growth. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
The Europeans faced much bigger wars in ww1 and ww2 where the US was totally protected by oceans. But the EU does need to work together, that would require much more integration and giving up sovereignty in the process
I respect a lot your channel and your views in general but Yankas views is outright a bunch of nonesense. A coalition of the willing doesn’t work, that is why having a governing body like the parliament is so important to ensure all interests are at least somewhat satisfactorily met. Any future in which the EU is not in the picture is a bleak one for Europeans. In fact continued integration is the only way we can actively try to avoid a dark future for our people. If we are left squabbling just as we did for centuries the only thing we will get is more war, suffering and a depleted population.
@@cheekypop The UK is probably the least racist country in Europe. The last prime minister was a Hindu of Indian extraction and the current leader of the opposition is a black women raised in Nigeria.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k doesn't matter the dreadful optics of letting millions of brown men march through europe in 2015 was the straw that broke the camels back with brexit. plenty of people still want their country to remain white
@@Lawrence4000-s3k doesn't matter the dreadful optics of letting millions of brown men march through europe was the straw that broke the camel's back with brexit. plenty of people still want their country to remain white
@@Lawrence4000-s3k doesn't matter the dreadful optics of letting millions of arab men march through europe was the straw that broke the camel's back with brexit. plenty of people still want their country to remain white
Stop with the "Competition made Europe great, we need to do it again" BS. You are living in a universe where USA literally exist, how can you support such thesis ? And for the people saying the other way around "Europe economy can't be strong when divided in +20 countries against USA and China". American companies has no issue taking over all 20 countries market, why Europeans can't ? And don't try to explain it by "US companies can start with a bigger market". Every companies today grow their market slowly, city by city, state by state, etc... Americans do it, Chineses do it, Europeans can do it too. The reason of our downfall is clear and simple: - Over-confidence, many Western Europeans do not realize how far behind we are falling, they still think China is poor and USA is a capitalistic hell. - Over-regulation, European politicians were left unchecked, they grew the size of their budget and political reach for decades, many new laws after new laws, new taxes after new taxes. EU is the embodiment of that mentality, as no Europeans know or care what they are doing in Brussels, and European bureaucrats profit from that. - Degrowth mentality, the political elite, especially on the left, made Europeans think that the end of the world is near, that there is no futur, and also that the people should hate themselves. Europeans have no more spirit like Americans or Chineses have. Fix those 3 problems, and Europe will be number 1 in no time.
It may not be number 1 again but it will be in a much better place than it is now and where it will be if it continues as it is now. Your point one will address itself in time (it will become obvious how far we've fallen behind); point 2 could be addressed but it's difficult in a bureaucracy; and point 3 is the tricky one and one to which I have no answer..
@@Lawrence4000-s3k It's all about spirit. A nation that has virtue (low corruption and low violence) and believe in the futur, can push itself out of misery. Japan, South Korea, Singapore and China did it very impressively in the last century. Nordic countries did it during the 18th century France did it after 1794 and 1870 Most of Europe did it after 1945 Germany, Poland, Estonia did it after 1990s Etc... I think that El Salvador and Argentina are doing it today. All it takes is few daring, competent and selfless leaders, to start a positive feedback loop for decades, and that is it. More I work in large companies, more I study history and geopolitics, more I realize how it all comes down to good leadership. Some countries made political and economic systems that are especially good at allowing good leaders to emerge, like USA, but in the end, that is the baseline.
@@mrsupremegascon I'm not too sure that world exists today, sadly. If you ever read the Guardian in the UK it's page after page of misery and national self-loathing. Young people, in particular, are infected by this. I can't speak for anywhere else but the UK feels like France in the 1930s - there was no chance anyone was fighting for that place in 1940 and they were done! And political leadership is at an all time low. It's become a career - straight from university to internship to politician. Fewer and fewer MPs now have ever had a real job so perhaps little wonder they are so out of touch. Elon Musk mentioned the same in an article sometime ago - he was talking about US politics and their civil service and how quality has undoubtably decreased. I suspect it's happened everywhere in the west. So if we don't have the leadership you mention then it's little wonder it's all a bit of a shambles. Let's hope it's not a death-loop!
@@Lawrence4000-s3k You are perfectly right, as of today, there is no political good figures and the downfall of Europe continue. If nothing change, we will end like Post-Peloponnesian Greece, Qing China, Byzantium, Tsarist Russia or the Ottoman. We can be kept in that state for centuries. But, in things can change pretty fast and dramatically. Germans went from Weimar, to idolizing the funny mustache guy to being strong democrats or devout communist in less than 20 years This shows how fast public opinions and political systems can change when there is will. Sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the best. Today, Europe political system is very much unstable and ready for change. UK is on going a massive political transition. France is in political chaos. Germany major political parties are weak.
'drowning in a sea of problems.' 'The EU could die'. Unlikely. If there is one thing our British 'friends' have shown us, the problems are not solved by breaking up. In fact, they could get very much worse. Individually, we would become easy targets for China, the US and right now, the great bear just across some very flat and difficult to defend plains, Russia. We can only keep going until better weather comes along.
@@apacheattackhelicopter8185 But they have a very close association and neither one has shown any inclination to break it. Norway has been helped by its discovery of oil and good management of it. Switzerland has been working to improve its economy for the last century or more and has been fortunate that quite a few of its people have been astute businesspeople. In neither case have they shown any desire to leave the single market [Norway full access, Switzerland partial] But no doubt, you British chappies [you are, aren't you?] will soon show us foreign Johnnies how to thrive outside the EU. Go on, show us how you are still the boss, the leader of nations as Blair puts it [and look where that got him]. How's that Canzuk notion going? Maybe Canada, Australia and NZ noticed how you acted in the EU. Also EFTA downright refused to countenance UK membership...'You have a reputation, you know' ...
One of the EU's most long standing examples of wilful myopic stupidity is its migration policy, or should I say its lack thereof. Italy, Greece and Spain (the 'Frontline' states in this context) have, for year after year after year, been left swinging in the wind by their northern brethren. Then as problems associated with undocumented migration began to more directly affect the EU's northern members, to nobody's great surprise we have seen a burgeoning of the Right wing vote across Europe, a political orientation which it is fair to say receives only grudging acknowledgement within the EU's parliament building in Brussells. Nonetheless it's impressive to observe the way the EU still remains a reasonably cohesive trading and political entity despite such pressures.
The only problems are that the capitalists don't share the excessive profits that migrants produce and instead get fools like you to blame workers. Wake up ffs
As someone who’s economically leftwing, anti-traditionalist, but also really anti-immigration this sucks as idk what to vote for. Social Democrat prob the closest to my views but I think I might just vote blank lol
The problem isn't our migration policy. It is the sheer unwillingness to apply said migration policies and / or asylum policies. The laws are already there to prevent mass illegal migration and welfare leeches from coming / staying in the EU; the EU (and thus, by extension, its member states) simply refuse to exercise the law.
. bruh 1) Im 28 years old and use bruh. 2) The use of slang cannot reliably correlate with a lack of intelligence or ability to comprehend or make educated points. Frfr on god, no cap. 3) let's not gatekeep an interest in politics and our world :) let's encourage the young to be a part of this, so they grow into educated adults!
People really look at the EU in the wrong way. It is one of the most monumental achievements of humanity and we just take it for granted. Yes, many European countries have animosity towards others due to history but despite this they were able to form the Union. It might not work very efficiently but it does work and it does certainly well considering that 27 very different countries are trying to stir one ship in the same direction. Many claim that the EU doesn't work because of its internal differences but it is much better to look at it and see that it works despite those internal differences. 80 years ago the same countries that have formed the Union tried obliterate each other. There are still people alive who lived through the times when the world seemed to be ending and those same people see that the enemies are now sitting at one table and albeit inefficiently but try to make the future of Europe better. There is room for change but we should look at the big picture and see where we came from. Instead of burying the EU over the slightest hurdles we should cooperate to make it better to not ruin what three generations have built up.
" It is one of the most monumental achievements of humanity" you gotta be kidding, its first policy is bring in millions of non europeans. Regardless of whether or not you're pro immigration. Bringing in non Europeans makes the whole process of creating a union for europeans absolutely insane. The whole base premise is that these countries should come together because they have something in common. An ethnic identity is no longer shared between countries. You might as well just call it "a union for where cars drive on the left".
In the end it doesn't matter, america owns europe and will till the end of time, you guys traded your own sovereignty for protection, I hop those low paying jobs with a stupidly long vacation time and socialist healthcare was worth it.
@@gyurtominecraft In the end what does it matter? europe is completely useless and helpless with our the US, I really hope that you guys having months worth of vacation, crap and uncompetitive pay and socialist healthcare and mass ethnic replacement was worth trading your sovereignty for security.
As a Norwegian I only like the single market and the Schengen agreement, the fishing, farming and public spending regulations are crazy! How can Poland, Finland, Ireland and Italy be under identical farming regulations? Or, why can't we in Norway, as an EEC member, demand that public works bidders have a given number of Norwegian apprentices hired as a requirement for taking part in the bidding process? Most EU legislation is very much targeted at the UK, (from when they were a member), France and Germany
A possible solution to EU legislation benefiting the biggest players could be for laws in the EU to require approval from most member states in a vote, but for each member state’s vote to count only as one vote. This way, all member states get equal representation in approving new laws, but singular members such as Hungary can’t single handily stop entire motions within the EU, making lawmaking more fair, yet also more efficient. As for agricultural customs, I believe that is something that should for the most part be moved to the member states due to climate related reasons
The conclusion of your video fall apart once you realise that the current structure of the EU does in no way forbid or even hindered unions of the willing. Those frequently happen, with a notable example of the helping of Ukraine without the support of Hungary. You are proposing a system that already exist while also suggest to step away from a powerful tool for the few times all of the EU countries meet an agreement.
I think is a misreading. European nations trust each other but don’t trust the unelected EU bureaucrats. And the reason why they are acting on their own more is due to having to deal with immigration against the dictates of the EU.
Fair points, i would like to point out that is one of reasons why we as europeans who have the option to make change in the eu via such as vote should strive to make the eu more transparent and democratic, making changes such as letting the eu parlament (voted by us the people) have a say in who gets to be commissioner and the main face of the eu,making voting process of said commissioners more transparent instead of behind closed doors and so on an so on.
Bureaucrats execute the will of the council, the commission and so on. They are simply employees to do a job the elected politicians need them to do. Are you British that you struggle with that concept?
Absolutely agree. Trans-national identities don't make sense to us. We want our government to be at least slightly tied to us as the people. If someone is willing to step away from their nation to instead try governing this big trans-national... thing, then where do their loyalties lie? There's also the issue of vote dilusion. Even if you do have a fully democratic EU, you run into the issue that the EU (If the UK remained part of it) has a population in excess of 500 million. More than the USA. Remember, that when you're in a club of 20 dudes, your single vote carries 1/20th of the power, if you're in a county of 10,000 then your vote carries 1/10,000th of the power, and if you are in a big multi-national federation of 500,000,000 people, then your vote carries 1/500,000,000 of the power. Larger and more populated states are less democratic by virtue of their sheer size. This is also why there's nothing wrong with countries that have aging populations choosing to depopulate until they get to the point of being able to repopulate again rather than accepting unlimited immigration, diluting their ethnic balance just to stay afloat, or worse, to artificially increase demand for services that are limited and drive up the price.
@@TV-xm4ps 1. Bureaucrats can be like any other profession incompetent 2. It's highly naive to think that everyone will just be on board with whatever administration is in charge and not sabotage policies they politically disagree with. Especiallly in a polarised society like ours.
I am pro EU, I am would love to see UK rejoin, but the Brexit was needed to tell EU bureaucrats that they can still lose their job in shame if they continue to ignore the people.
I can respect that position 👍🏻. I'm firmly on the pro-Brexit side and the number of 'remainers' who talk only about 'their' freedom of movement as the reason for staying in drives me crazy.
Almost all that you said is true in a way, but this video still misses the no.1 real point of the EU. Sovereignty for Europeans. Most people think the choice that the Nations in the EU face is, join the EU or stay independent. That is completely wrong. The choice is between the EU (a power you get to co lead) and a foreign empire. The UK is a wonderful example of this. They left and first became a 3rd world country and then immediately US interest groups started pouring money in their political parties. They didn't want to be part of the village(EU) and are thus are getting eaten by a predator(US). It's also pretty telling that all parties that oppose the EU also like sucking up to Putin, except the UK's Reform party which is American property. Together we stand, divided we fall.
Some commenters here forget that the EU has always had various sub-groups by coalitions of the willing! Eurozone, Schengen, Customs Union, and several more are initiatives that some but NOT ALL EU countries have joined.
The core issue with EU is that it builds on the idea of integrated statehood and an EU state in style with the HRE. Some European countries, likely all if we go far enough back was formed from a number of smaller states, that is why the politicians think this can be repeated with all of Europe, but it can not, maybe it can over hundreds of years, but not at the speed our politicians push for this.
It is simplistic to pretend that individual countries are monolithic when just like the EU these member states are internally fragmented by various political positions. I wholeheartedly disagreed with the Nordstream pipeline project as did many Germans. Yes, we are in an evolutionary development, but the forces of history are driving us into each others arms and not apart. No citizen in the EU under the age of 95 has ever taken up arms against another EU citizen. The simple truth is that we are stuck in times of extraordinary upheaval and the only solution for survival - evolution so to say - is more cooperation, not less. No system looks stable at the moment or does anyone want to say that the UK after Brexit, the USA, China or Russia are doing just fine. I am a geographer and have travelled the world. There is one simple truth at the end of the day. Europe is hands down the best place to live on the planet. That also means we are much better than we think. And by the way one of the nice things about being nearly 60 is that I have heard all this oh, we are falling apart, we are falling behind again and again. My message is simple: stay cool and cooperate and we will avoid the worst but if anyone believes that we are able to live through the multiple challenges of demographic and climate collapse and much more unscathed and all can stay the same you have not understood that evolution means change. Always!
22:14 my political science professor laid out why this is also a bad thing for the less developed countries. A lot of that aid is subsidizing education. Young scholars learn in their home country and are taught skills applicable in a Bureaucratic or STEM settings and are then attracted to work in Central Europe. Thus it’s somewhat similar to the ‘concentration’ mechanic of EU4. You invest in the periphery but incentivize the workers to move to your country. You reap the benefits of their education and it dampens the demographic collapse as new young motivated people move into your cities. On the contrary this depresses the periphery and is why we see so many states, particularly in the Balkans, lagging so heavily behind. This actually happens in the US as well. Cities have continued to concentrate opportunities which has led to an increase in inequality as once prosperous rural towns decay and cities become overcrowded with high demand for goods and services. Edit- Nevermind you kind of touch on this but the funding is a crucial part of that brain drain
As a european from the eastern block, its not gonna happen anytime soon...we are europeans but we had different lessons from history... survival vs. self expression
@@teaser6089 imaging all people saying that in Europe in 1444. I know we ain't there yet, but we will loose our wealth and sovereignty also we we remain this splintered in a world where distances are defined by the speed of information. China and the us are our neighbors/competitors now
@@teaser6089 do you really have any sovereignity, though? What you do on your own is heard in Beijing, Moscow, Dehli, Washington? There's cities in those countries with more people than your whole country. You're peanuts to them.
@@foodistzen So it will be. My mom told her "if nobody has children there will be no future people". She answered "then let the civilization die, for what it's worh...". What she meant was "Let the spanish civlization die"
You ancestors / parents / grand parents worked far more, were far poorer and had more children. It's not too much work, it's just that people simply value their career more than children. Which is what happen with every group of people that get offered the opportunity of a career. Before it was reserved to the elite, and the elite usually had fewer children than the bottom class. Now it is the case for everyone.
@@foodistzenwhich is what happened on a micro level with Jewish communities, in the early 20th century liberal Jews outnumbered conservatives now conservatives make a much larger portion of the Jewish population, this cyclical trend seems to be the case on a small level , it may also happen on a much larger scale
@@mrsupremegasconfor my grandparent having a child was beneficial past age 8-9 my father would help out in the farms and grazing animals. Nowadays it is a net “detriment” to have a child when you have to subsidise it until age 18 and even beyond that
I see a lot of comments disagreeing with the video. I disagree too, but I think the analysis is as usual spot on on the crux of the matter: things cannot continue the way they do, so what is to be done? The problem as I see it is that the three pillars of "competition, national interest and the search for consesus" as they are listed at 26:30 are very hard if not impossible to balance. No.1 and no.2 brought us the Europe that we wanted to get rid of, the Europe with a gazillion of wars in the last hundred years, and two major wars in the last century, that almost destroyed it. No.1 and no.2 throws away no.3. How do you draw the line between "competition, national interest" and war in Europe? As it historically proved impossible to be drawn and that's why we have the current set up which proved not to be a solution. "Coallition of the willing" is a euphemism for "every man for himself" What if there is not enough critical mass of the "willing" in certain issues, and the others don't give a damn? Take for example the Russian aggression. If Russia eventualy swallows Ukraine and then wants some more, the Eastern and Nordic states won't be enough to detter it. While Spain and Portugal and even germany and France might shrug their shooulders and say "not our problem". The "coalition of the willing" resembles in way with the "Europe of sovereign states", the Europe that the populist-sovereignitists parties advocate, which - again - is the Europe that we wanted to be a thing of the past. In the realm of international relations it might also mean a return to bilateralism - which is what Russia wants. With stronger states - like germany and France, who laso have strategic depth and do not share a border - deal in one way, with smaller ones and closer to you, in another. In this scenario, a Ribentropp- Molotov 2.0. is not totally off the table. I also disagree with the opinion the Europe shouldn't strive to become a major player in the world game of power, like China or the US. The game of power might just break into your home without asking. With Russia challenging the post- Cold War geopolitical status quo, I'm afraid that "we don't want any of this", the ostrich policy is not an option. Economically too, even major economic powers like Germany or France cannot compete with China and the US. Europe might end up as a vassal, economically, politcally or both. I think it already is, and there's nothing to be done on the short term, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't strive. But I agree with the analysis, that the EU as it was conceived it's a typical case of "too much, too fast". It created an artificial superstructure, a caste of bureaucrats increasingly disconnected from the real world and the real problems of the people, a caste which people came to resent and even hate. It atemppted to miss out the stages and to trick the natural evolutionary process of social development. And so it backfired. What would be the solution? I don't think anyone has a straight answer, and I don't pretend to be qualified to provide one. But I can make a suggestion, an educated guess. I think we should return to the once discarded concept of two-gear Europe. And to the loathed concept by the multicultural narrative, still hegemonic in the European academia, of the nation-state. The nation-state which is not only an abstract concept, but in Europe still a persistent reality probably for a long way to come. So a two-gear Europe and three leading nations: Germany, France and Poland, with Germany as a primus inter pares, the main connector, and part of both of them. The two Europes would both create their membreship according to geography, common historical-cultural background, similar level of economic development, common security interests. One would be Western Europe, the other Central-Eastern Europe, or "Mitteleuropa". It can be argued that Western Europe gathers the states which are more economically developed -although of course there cannot be clear-cut lines. One could always argue that based on this criteria Portugal and Czechia should switch camps. There is a shared history on both camps, although of course, "shared" doesn't mean "honeymoon" -quite the opposite on many occasions. The security criteria is also crucial: for the Western Europe, Russia is not an existential threat, for the Mitteleuropa it is. The nordic states could be an important connector. From an economic and cultural point of view, they are related to the Western Europe, from the one of security concerns, to the Eastern camp (especially Finland) But the main connector and leader should be Germany. By its history, culture and security interests it belongs to both camps. It also has the economic force to shape up the dirrection of development, can (and must) become a major military power. I think that crucial for the future of Europe is how Germany assumes it's role of a leader, and what kind of leader it will be. It is already the leader, whether we like it or not, and many complain that EU policies are actually shaped on the interests of Germany. It should understand its role as a leader, mainly that it is its interest to keep Easter Europe as its backyard, and not let it become Russia's backyard, especially if confronted with an American withdrawal. And of course not turn Eastern Europe into an object of bargain with Russia, in a soft or hard Ribbentrop-molotov style agreement. It should be a benevolent hegemon, bringer of prosperity and economic stability and careful to the historical sensitivity of this area towards her, especially's Poland's. In the long run, I think it might be an either-or scenario for this part of the world: either the economic fruitful, benevolent hegemony of Germany, or the military backed, violent, tuggish and poverty-bringing one of Russia which they know too well. There are many "ifs" and "buts" of course. Which direction will Germany go? Will the national French and Polish pride give in and accept that although they are major European nations, they are not quite on equal footing with Germany? Especially considering their not so happily ever after history. Will the smaller state accept such a ranking-system? All in all a "coalition of willing", if you want, but not a loose one on the model of "Europe of sovereign states". Instead strucured around two or three solid connected cores, themselves created based on geographical, historical, economical and security criteria. With a nation-leader and two lieutants. With a gradually increased level of integration, including a future European army, and the whole process resumed. But this time organically, by "trial and error", not rushing to create artificial, untenable superstructures. I think you articulated well the main issue: if you kill competitiveness, you drain the lifeblood of any social system. But too much competitiveness ends in war and conflict. How to have the cake and eat it too in Europe? This are the horns of our future dilemma here in this part of the world
Germany has a golden opportunity to work with its partners to sure up the European project. If it visibly makes the effort abd sacrifices, leading by example and providing security, they really could move this forward. France and Poland are rearing to go further. Georgia and Ukraine are crying desperately for help. The Baltics deserve their own futures. Finland and Sweden are now on-board for defence. Get it done, get it done fast. Make Europe the shining example is pretends to be.
Well the issue with that is that germany has a foreign policy based on making ourself small and pretend that we are just one of many to not scare anybody, the moment we throw around our power and influence some people will be scared and for example france wouldnt accept a German lead european federation, same with the poles, italians or spanish, thats not even talking about hungary or slovakia blocking a lot of stuff importsnt for the eu. Reform in the eu is needed and the critical thing is to get rid of the need to have unanimous suport for changes, as keeping that will lead to a slow end of the eu and it being replaced with other organisations.
United you stand or divided you fall. Western Europe and Eastern Europe have a vested interest creating a strong federal system. The external threats are real and the inability to keep up with technological changes is equally troubling. I wish Europe all the best. Unfortunately, we in the US have our own dumpster fires with which we must contend.
People who support the EU doesn't understand history, social development, or how humans work. The EU only exists because of the US and it's existence has led to stagnancy and complacency as the managerial class soaks up every drop of wealth for themselves while producing nothing. The Hunger Games melting pot of diverse conflict, while painful, is exactly what made Europe a powerhouse. It hardens countries into robust unified entities rather than opaque, self-loathing masses they are today. They had pride and ambition. Centralization of the continent makes it slow, unimportant, and lumbering. It cannot manage it's external trade without the US. The second the US steps back, the EU will crumble due to infighting over needs and cultural differences. The EU represents nobody but itself, it doesn't net represent Germans, French, Italians, etc.
Well done, you've just described European Enhanced Cooperation which has existed since the Amsterdam Treaty. 🙄 From Wiki: "In the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine EU member states are allowed to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but without the other member states being involved.[1] As of October 2017, this procedure is being used in the fields of the Schengen acquis, divorce law,[2] patents,[3][4] property regimes of international couples, and European Public Prosecutor and is approved for the field of a financial transaction tax."
While analysing geopolitical dynamics, you should stick to geopolitical theories and models. There's a methodological reason for why Darwinism applied to social sciences isn't something taken seriously nowadays. It has led to misapplication of methodology, theories and resulted in eugenics.
State-sponsored unaliving is the hot new thing in town & all the media coverage around it make it clear that it won't be used on people with disablities. What would you call that? Dysgenics?
I have always thought that if the five main countries in Europe (Germany 🇩🇪, France 🇫🇷, the United Kingdom 🇬🇧, Italy 🇮🇹 and Spain 🇪🇸) were more united on an economic, commercial and military level, we could compete better with the United States 🇺🇸, China 🇨🇳 or Russia 🇷🇺. But the United Kingdom has always prioritized the relationship with the United States more than with Europe, Germany and France are immersed in serious political and economic instability and although the situation is now a little better in Italy and Spain, we are not exempt from possible instability.
We already saw what Germans could do, especially between 1933 and 1945, so no, thank you! We do not need more concentration camps under German leadership!
I gave your comment a like because I agree the UK feels much more at ease in the company of English speaking nations as we can integrate far easier with each other. If you think 5 eyes is just intelligence sharing, google 5 Countries Ministerial… that’s Anglosphere starting!
how well did the coalition of the willing model work for the greek city states? eventually Rome won and not through coalitions of willing but through integration within a system. we must find other ways to integrate in union around common grounds and not loose our diversities. toughest job but also greatest.
Europe should unite into a large federation like the United States, with significant devolution of powers but under an overarching system of continent-wide laws, common defense, economic policy, etc. The United States would not be the superpower it is today if it were some soft "coalition of the willing" among the 50 states. That would be a mess, and we all speak the same language and have the same culture, broadly.
Thing is that practically all of those proposals you said already have been achieved - the Treaty of the European Union established a European Parliament, Court and fundamental principles, such as the adherance to liberal democracy, human rights, a common market etc, the EU has many laws and regulations that supersede that of the nations and the Court of Justice of the EU also supersedes the courts of individual nations. The EU also has a common defence pact that's effectively a copy of NATO's Article Five - this is why Russia won't accept Ukraine in the EU as a "compromise" to it not being in NATO, since it being in the EU basically gives it the same protections as NATO just without the US or Canada. I'll be honest here, this channel (Good Times Bad Times) is very negatively minded and is spinning things in a negative way. They are also heavily Pro-Turkish biased and slightly critical of the EU and NATO. In reality, the EU already is a very powerful bloc on the world stage. The EU already is the second most important player in international relations to the US, and certainly is in the world economy, in fact a lot of the product standards we have today are set by the EU and then impact the globe because the EU is such a large market that it is easier to adopt products to EU rather than creating a separate EU version of that product. The EU doesn't need federalization, we aren't the US, we aren't culturally similar enough to ever justify it and in my opinion a Federation on the scale of Europe simply just wouldn't work - it would destabilize us more than likely. Where the EU could do better is likely to set an minimum GDP target for its member states in terms of military spending and also work towards the acceptance and establishment of English as the de facto language of official communications and business, and make sure everyone learns it to a good enough extent. This would then allow concepts such as an EU Army to become more feasible. In reference to the EU's "troubles" - the reality is that economic decline, housing shortages, declining birth rates, energy crises are troubles that EVERY major economy is going through, and actually the European countries have been least affected. The US, Japan, South Korea are all undergoing much worse issues than the EU, and China peaked in 2019 and is on the verge of a total demographic collapse.
French and German officers and Czech, Polish and Bulgarian soldiers on the 1st front. Large investments and gas pipelines in Germany and the rest of Europe will also receive with a small tax. This is how I see your federalization. When the West starts to respect the East, we will start talking about community.
They should make a Union of Europeans. Take Europeans from all across the world and find a place for them. Not sure what you'd call such a place, tell me if you figure it out.
I believe Europe should federalize, but not like the United States. Contrary to your beliefs, Europeans do not all speak the same language or have the same culture, even broadly. They value some of the same things, yes, but that does not make them the same. Rather, a European federation should be constructed to build on the existing strengths of each member state while also helping each other develop new strengths as well, according to the individual characteristics of each nation. For example, the Nordic countries as well as (maybe) the Netherlands would function as the EU’s “Silicon Valley,” Germany and France could be the centers of European industry, France and Italy could be the centers of European design, Spain could be the center of European business, etc, while Eastern European countries would be given the resources to develop growing industries such as the Czech Republic’s growing engineering sector. Then as nations join/rejoin the union, their strengths can be incorporated into the union’s existing framework. For example, if Britain comes back, they could excellently supplement German and French industry, Norwegian business could build upon Spanish business, Ukrainian electrical and computer engineering could develop with other Eastern European countries, giving Ukraine a potential pathway into the European “Silicon Valley,” etc. Additionally, a system should be implemented that would allow member states to still maintain sovereignty; something like the system in Switzerland, for example. This would allow each nation to focus on its core strengths while distributing those benefits across the rest of the EU (for example, a device that is designed in Finland or the Netherlands, but that is produced in Germany or France with marketing campaigns spearheaded by Spanish advertisers). In this way, all nations benefit from the strengths of all other nations without themselves having to expand into those categories, creating an EU in which all nations involved prosper and thrive
I really like the thought exploration. Not that I agree with the potential ways forward presented, I don't think I liked hearing them, I'm sure I can think of some others. But aside from my own biases, I appreciate the way the subject is introduced and visions articulated. Very well done and why I have been following for such a long time. Thank you.
Sorry, but I disagree about many points. 1) You fundamentally convey the image of an EU as a German imperialistic project. You warn against nationalism and populism but that's exactly what populists say, with the notably exception of German populists who want to dismantle the EU. To those Germans the EU is against their national interests. Historically Germany has been reluctant to take a leading role in the EU, Germany didn't even want the creation of the Euro. It's true that Germany has been pursuing it's national interests, but that's exactly what every nation has been doing. The EU is not a german hegemonic project per se. 2) You complain about the lack of bigger Eastern European companies while western companies take profit from Eastern markets. Do you really believe that without those western companies the Eastern states would be better today? Eastern Europe came out from communism, it's not so easy to build new companies in a post-communist environment. Thanks to western companies Eastern Europeans had lots of jobs and acquired the know how through which, in time, they can found other companies. 3) Comparing the EU public transfers to Eastern nations to the profits of western companies is pure nonsense. And again that's a populist dishonest claim. The transfers are public money from all European taxpayers. The western companies profits are shareholders' money. You can easily take an amoumt of that profit by buying those stocks. 4) An hypotetical federal European model does not mean to end the competition between member states or between companies. A federation is, by its very meaning, a decentralised structure. It's all about its design. We are not talking about the creation of a centralised superstate with France as a model. But, according to Mario Draghi, a more integrated European market could lead to more economies of scale, bigger players in the global arena and so more prosperity. The same is true about defence spending or other forms of public spending. A clarification: the 800mln€ proposed by Draghi as investment are not entirely public money in his plan. In fact they would mostly be private funds. 5)I tell you a secret: Switzerland is rich because it's free riding the European market and because it's a fiscal haven. The Union could theoretically starve Switzerland at will.
make a video about 1)the possibility of a kurdish state. 2)Greek army modernization to counter turkey's neo-ottoman ambisions 3)What would happen if Russia attacked the baltic states and not all of nato countries respond 4)The new geopolitical reality in the middle east, how much in a stronger position is Israel really? 5)Lesser known wars in the world
modernization? have you looked at the numbers? Per current Greek programs Greece will fall further in numbers and technical edge in the next 2 decades. They will have 4 frigates in a decade after Meko modernization is now also cancelled. Meanwhile Turkey will have new built or modernized 12 frigates, 10 OPVs and 4 destroyers. Greece will have about 150 modern or modernized fighters, while Turkey will have about 300 modern or modernized fighters even before Kaan enters service in numbers.
@@TheKurtkapan34 How will Greece fall behind in technical edge when its already ahead of turkey? Greece has many more f16 vipers, they have rafales and we get more and they have f35 soon. Greece will be certainly ahead of turkey at least in the air for the decade ahead of us. Unless turkey gets eurofighters and f35 which is questionable. About sea its true that turkey will have more but Greece will also get corvettes and constellation frigates, not just the 5 belhara frigates. Meko modernization might still happen.Also Greece is investing in drones and anti drone warfare, electronic warfare, it is creating a 4 layered anti-missile and anti-drone iron dome system, it is slowly starting to boost its own defense systems and in the future it will demand 15% of everything to be build in Greece which will give Greece technical knowledge and the percentage will slowly increase and Greece will build more and more of its own weapons. Lastly, in the navy even though turkey will have more ships it will still be even or maybe even Greece will have the advandage with its thousands of islands. With very cheap weapons and without a proper navy ukraine has annihilated the navy of russia in the ukraine war. Just imagine what would happen if turkey entered in the aegean with its navy. Our ships are to be used for the meditteranian and cyprus as well as in missions like the operations against the houthis. Greece will heavely millitarize every island, islet and rock in the aegean, increase its nautical miles to 12 and deny access to any potential bad actor. The aegean IS a greek lake and will become a bigger headache for turkey than taiwan is for china. Its going to be a deathzone for every enemy navy
@@TheKurtkapan34 Also Turkey has changed its order of f16s and will not reach 300 modern or modernized fighters And Greece will have 200 modern fighter jets of 3 types only. Only f16 vipers, rafales and f35
The Kurdish states an odd one since it’s not in an official capacity in rojava but if Turkey tries to crack down on them there’s no telling what sort of powder keg might kick off
Very true, we got lazy and complacent in Europe, thinking that our wealth is an eternal given. Competition was neglected for standardisation, focusing on so called compliance with Western democratic values. Along with this we have lost our creativity, being busy complying with overburdening bureaucratic EU regulation demands. China clearly is outperforming the EU economically and politically.
The perspective that Western Europe became lazy as a consequence of easy access to Eastern Europe market is an interesting one. Having lived and worked in Western Europe for a few decades, I can tell that what I observed was a bit different. Maybe because I was directly embedded on the front line. Rather, I have seen a single generation (the boomers) in charge during the whole ordeal (except the early years, where a few members of the silent generation were still in charge, displaying a work ethic that I've never seen again after that), and for the most part, the boomers were interested in one thing: reach the retirement age, at max benefit, with minimal effort, and zero risk. They couldn't care less about what they left behind. For example, they would be perfectly content to sell off the secret advantages of their companies to foreign competitors in exchange for a quick buck, knowing very well that it will negatively impact the future of their company and all those they left behind. I can't stress how many I've seen leaving the workforce early with a generous compensation package within their 50's, all paid by debts, currently burdening the following generations. Those that remained kept all the power. When I left, power was distinctly occupied by a single age class, ageing in perfect tandem every year. This happen to coincide with the end of cold war and enlarging of the European Union. But is it the cause ? I have difficulties to think so. The lazyness of a single entitled generation seems largely at play here. A plausible argument might be that the extension to Eastern Europe helped hide the mounting inefficiencies. Maybe. I don't know enough to draw such a conclusion. I did not see it because the companies I worked for were barely doing any business with Eastern Europe, but it does not mean it did not happen.
The simple problem of the e.u is they want to stay separate nations and together at the same time the e.u has two choices separate back to nation states or actually form a European country
So many comments by expert historians and policy makers it seems. Good analysis, I think it encourages some thought in all of us. Even if people don't agree with everything, I believe these sorts of analyses are useful. Thank you.
Yeah always funny how people conviently forget about the tens of millions of native Americans that were slaughtered by the current inhabitants anchestors.
The eu would work if it was a representative govt. Right now the people of europe have no voice in the eu. Until that happens the eu sits with its hands tied.
@@LucasRoach-t1j not really. A channel called EU Made Simple explains how a possible European federation could work far better than I can, but I’ll put it like this if I remember correctly (I’ll try to link the videos too so you can see what I’m talking about): the EU could create two chambers. In one chamber (we’ll call it the Chamber of the EU), you have representatives elected to represent the European Union as a whole. In the other chamber (we’ll call it the Chamber of the Member States), you have representatives from each member state elected to represent their nation (ideally one per nation). A motion can only be passed in the EU if it is approved by both chambers. In this scenario, smaller countries such as yours still have a voice in the proposition of laws and regulations, ensuring a structure that benefits all Edit: Video Part 1: th-cam.com/video/tPdX5FEX1R0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qNuG9p-d7aZlUji5 Edit 2: Video Part 2: th-cam.com/video/riUfmvNzI-A/w-d-xo.htmlsi=czK1A-CQX9Y6LMBe Edit 3: Video Part 3: th-cam.com/video/yJgFjuAVFoM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=fUd4lCYvl3ik4U0v
The EU is done for, just a matter of time now till we see countries withdrawing from it. Nationalistic and ethnic desires can be suppressed, but not indefinitely, hence the break up of the bloc.
Man this guy really needs to learn how to trim down his videos cause like 60% of his videos is him just droning on and on and on instead of talking about the stuff that's important and the stuff that we really wanna hear about.
How are EU countries supposed to counter Moscow's influence as separate states? Moscow has no intention of letting each EU country remain independent and competitive. This is a very short-sighted perspective.
"Moscow has no intention of letting each EU country remain independent" Any evidence for this claim? Besides, it is the EU itself that restricts it member countries' sovereignity.
Western Europe is not concerned about Russia while Eastern Europe has to as they share borders with them. EU more focused on cultural policies imported from state of California, United States.
Old Roman maxim: Money doesn't stink. Especially gas from Russia. The countries of the West have perfectly shown what "unity" and "democracy" are. There were no opportunities under the rule of the Muscovites, to whom they so easily give up the freedom of others.
Maybe they just can't counter that influence and we would be wise to recognise that fact? There's no point in Eastern Europe pinning its hopes on the west if the west has no interest in defence spending (and in fact has sent far more money to Russia since the start of the war than it has to Ukraine!). We need to have our eyes open to how the world actually is rather than how we wish it would be.
I recently read about "Eurotopia" from Heiniken.. It was basicly a plan to devide European countries in multiple states , it would be 75 states based on cultural background and power..( even with help from historici , this way you would have less tensions in those states ) Cause he believed if you devide the countries , there wouldn't be a main power nor threat.. And this way we are kinda forced to work together.. I loved the idea , but kinda unrealistic (Maybe?).. I don't think most countries want to give up their power for such a project.. And alot of other questions like Language.. or how we gonna govern 75 states? But not gonna lie , even hypothetical.. It was nice to see things from another perspective. Altho , I didn't 100% agree on how the states wer sepperated .. Overall he actually did a great job.
Europe needs to reinvent itself quite a lot, it's clear. It needs more inner trust, vision, shared responsibility and still, despite the top end is very high, fumbles can be punished pretty hard.
Sounds good, doesn't work. The problem of this proposal of a loose coalition-building association is that politicians in each state would be heavily incentivized to drag their feet on common policies and to freeride. This could be seen in failures of ASEAN (paralyzed and unable to form any common policies e.g. vis-a-vis China) or UNASUR (practically dead now). Of course those regions can prosper as individual nations, however, their geopolitical weight is close to zero. Conversely, many of the highlighted issues are global trends affecting also states outside the EU. Eurobarometer opinion surveys repeatedly show that vast majority of Europeans supports common trade, energy, defence and security policy - forming also absolute >50% majority in every single member state - so why throw this potential strength away, especially now when it is needed the most?
As an American I wouldn’t disagree the EU in total is generally better. “Way” better is of course arguable. The question I would have is how much of that better is due to the EU structure ? I question this because from the outside it appears to be a tremendous amount of administrative overhead for the benefits gained. Also, I would not agree that living in every state within the EU would be better than living in the United States. For instance Poland and Romania. All the best to you and yours.
@@erikanderson8093 I think Poland has earned being seen diferently, they have a surprisingly big economy now, Romania is still a good example. But yeah, tbh all we have on you guys is like 4 good regulations, like sugar tax, public healthcare and so on. If you guys passed those youd literally be a richer version of Europe with all its benefits but still the twice as big salaries. Thats what it feels like
@@thegrandlord2914 No, it isn't. There is no popular support for separation (only 10-15%) and there is actually even slightly more support for status quo/more federalism than confederalism/splitting.
22:59 Well, you know... Foreign companies = foreign profits. It's not like they're taking Polish or Hungarian money away... That money has never been theirs.
Europe had always had loose coalistions, when Spain was strong, France and England allied againts it. When France was strong Spain and England allied againts it. It will be the same. 30:31
@giovannituber2827 There was not a single time in the human history where a confederation wouldn't transform into a federation relatively quickly or died suddenly. Ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Switzerland, United States...
I think the people want a federal EU and point to the U.S. as an example forget the fact just how culturally homogeneous the U.S was when the constitution was signed, with a population almost entirely British and Protestant. Even then, it was almost a miracle that the U.S stayed united post revolutionary war, that’s not even mentioning the fact that states and the federal government clashed repeatedly and still do to this day. I just see a lot of countries going the brexit route if the EU federalizes, especially for those in Eastern Europe did not sign up with the idea that they would have to hand over their independence as nations at some point. Then question becomes if that does happen, will the EU march troops down like the union did to the confederacy, how would that be perceived internationally and internally, there is just to many unknowns.
The Americas should be considered nothing more than a pan ethnic continuation of Europe. Culture, not geography, is what matters here. The US and Canada are a continuation of Great Britain and Ireland--themselves becoming multi cultural democracies--and additional economic and military cooperation should be considered w/NATO, not EU, as the templet as the military alliance allows for greater sovereignty especially on the economic level. LATAM, a continuation of Iberian culture as well as indigenous heritage, should also join the block. Peace only comes through strength and this block would prevent global rivals from acting in an aggressive manner. The West has weakened but European settler colonies will infuse the block with new vitality. The Commonwealth should also be examined for further partnership
America, Mexico, and Brazil have a better chance of directly annexing Britain, Spain, and Portugal respectively than them choosing to revitalize the old continent. Cultural ties and a better demographic profile will give them a disproportionate sway in European affairs and will allow for them to dominate their former colonizers. In other words: when the parents get too old sometimes it’s best for them to move in with their children
Revolutionary ideas are cool topics for discussion but are risky and most likely will never be implemented in EU consisting of so many actors. We can start with less spectacular but easier to do things like: common stock exchange market, deregulate, spend more on arms and less on ideological fancy things. We are not doing even that.
A united Europe is all we can hope for. Divided we are a bunch of dwarfs in a world of global powers. Together we are one of the new great powers of the 21st century. That we cannot risk. For our own sake and prosperity. For that however the EU has to act in the interests of us Europeans and not those of lofty ideals.
European states did not band together for the common good on their own. Two external foreign superpowers suppressed nationalism (see Suez Crisis in 1956). Once the influence of external powers is gone, Europe will return to nationalist competition.
The guy has the most overly simplistic understanding of evolution to the point that just shows he does not understand it one bit, nothing about this and any similarity to biological evolution, as this is a nested hierarchy.
Also America is number 1. Europe is number 2 and responsible for colonialism and every evil ideology from Fascism to Communism. Europe would be better off as an occupied US territory paying a tribute tax. America got it right rejecting England and the old ways of Europe.
I see lots of naysayers in the comments so far. I say that the author's reflections are food for thought. Coalitions of the willing are exactly that: peoples/tribes/nations/groups get together to promote common interests. What's not to like?
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One of your greatest video essays yet!
It will help many fellow Europeans to start thinking about the important things.
The younger generation needs exactly this hope.
Can you share the slide show for this video please?
Best wishes!
why ????? you know they were lying last two years since the invasion, dude I respect you opinion a
Where's the video about the USA's imperialist expansion?
I dont think many people have a genuine problem with the idea of the EU and are aware that it is economic suicide to dispand it, but a lot of these people feel like the EU doesn't prioritize Europeans themselves in her policies, especially when it comes to migration. We need to make sure that we keep some sort of economic union at all cost, but the eu in its current form is slowly crashing into a wall. Secure borders would be a great start and hopefully evolve into a common defense policy, especially with a increasingly radical russia next door. But as long as people feel like the EU grows into something out of control and out of touch with individual citizens that wont happen. I really hope that we will get through whatever is coming in the future together.
One solution could be introducing elections specific for european comission president and change the EU parliament elections to pan-european parties. It would at least make it feel more like a conventional democratic process and closer to what people are used to
The EU prioritises countries in places like West Africa even less when it dumps surplus agricultural produce on them.
The EU should never have been more than economic and trade agreements. If NAFTA tried dictating domestic policies or immigration policies, American citizens would go to war.
Mate, I have a problem with the EU. Back in the days we could live in our own cities in The Netherlands. Right now, Polish, Georgian, German, Italians, etc are taking over our houses. Idem dito for jobs and we do not even talk about the 1 way stream of solidarity in the union. Better said, the west pays for the morals of the east... Dutch tax payer money is for the Europeans (better said East and South Europeans) but their tax paying money isnt for us. So f**k the EU and f**k the union.
@@josemiguelmatos3452 Changing it to pan-European is impossible. No German citizen would ever vote for a Polish, Latvian or Lithuanian candidate. On the other hand, German politicians and institutions have enough power and money to create puppet candidates in Eastern EU elections to win there.
I disagree wholeheartedly. Coalitions of the willing are doomed to fail. It leads to a race to the bottom where countries will contribute as little as they think they can get away with. As you mentioned regarding defense spending, central and western European countries will naturally choose to spend less if they can. This puts all the burden of defense on the Eastern European countries. This would only fuel resentment between countries, and open us up to be divided and conquered by outside parties like Russia and China. Your thesis that continued European integration is impossible is completely unhistorical. Europeans have at many times in history joined up into larger blocks, some of these have lasted for centuries. For the EU to work, we just have to realize that our adversaries are external, not internal. We also see support for the EU increasing year over year. Most populist "anti-EU" parties do not actually try to leave the union. They just dislike the EU's stance on immigration.
I agree! This analysis is so surface level and ungrounded... especially when considering the coalition of the willing. We even have a perfect example of this falling apart during the immigration crisis, where each country took it on their own how to deal with it. The result was arbitrary closing of borders, 0 solidarity between the member states and putting all the burden on the southern countries while trying to get away with as minimal of an investment as possible.
The EU is heading in the right direction, but it is undeniable that the level of corruption and bureaucracy has to be dealt with.
Thanks for the comment!
"we just have to realize" - if it was that simple, it would have been done long time ago. If countries don't want to spend on certain issues, but are forced to spend - how effective this spending really is? That's EU in one sentence. Bundeswehr is burning billions of euros more than eg. IDF. Which army is more effective?
"Europeans have at many times in history joined up into larger blocks, some of these have lasted for centuries." - because these blocks united exactly along the hardcore interest of each polity
@@GoodTimesBadTimes the Bundeswehr vs. IDF comparison is not a good one. When did Bundeswehr last fought a war to compare it to IDF? One could say that the most effective army is the one that discourages others from attacking.
You disagree, because you haven't been paying attention.
The current way of doing things is being rejected by more and more people. If you keep pushing the same solutions that you've been doing for the last 10 years, we're going to end up with the far-right in power and partition eastern europe like we did 100 years ago.
We can't have the same countries profitting from this union, brain draining the rest and exploiting them for some charity. This will be the end of us.
@@Olifantenstaartthe German military is in a pitiful state and this is well known. This is not because it is such a great deterrent, it is because of wasteful and inept spending and resting on ones laurels.
> EU should have coalitions of the willing on specific issues with specific rules
The US tried something like this with the Articles of Confederation between 1776-1781, it doesn't work.. It led to a race to the bottom where each State contributed as little as they thought they could get away with, and created a lot of resentment, because States kept asking "if nobody else was paying for the military or infrastructure then why the hell should I?" The USA tried to remain neutral in the Anglo-French Wars and trade with both sides, which led to both sides raiding their ships and enslaving their crews, and there were lots of pirates like the Barbary pirates doing the same. So the US got fed up with it and replaced the Articles of Confederation with the current Federalist Constitution to let Congress take taxes from the States by force rather than voluntarily, so they could raise a Navy to protect their merchant men from depredation. This has been tried before, federalism is the correct answer.
The Europeans just haven't faced a crisis to force them to accept that answer yet like America did.
The EU already applies this principle of "coalitions of the willing" and it seem to work: Eurzone, Schengen, PESCO, EPPO, UPC, ESA... and many many more.
Not all European States participate in everything. Only in initiatives that benefit them.
based. its going to be very stupid of us if we fail to learn from other practices and wait for yet another crisis.
You are basically correct. Current state of affaires with the EU is somewhat different than the USA two hundred years ago. But over the next few centuries the EU has a better chance of surviving than the growing kleptocracy of the United States. The correct answer is education of the masses leading to federalism.
The Europeans have already faced far more crisis than the US will in the next hundred years! And for the most part the people are better educated, it is the new generation in both countries that are willing to trade their liberties for the promises of security and prosperity that concerns me, that and the larger worldwide circle of parasitical oligarchs. It appears a class war is brewing.
Internal stresses are likely to topple both Russia and China, freeing the way for unexpected growth. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
@@stefanschleps8758
Ignoring national sovereignty and creating a supernational federal government seems like a pretty big detriment to liberty imo.
The Europeans faced much bigger wars in ww1 and ww2 where the US was totally protected by oceans. But the EU does need to work together, that would require much more integration and giving up sovereignty in the process
I respect a lot your channel and your views in general but Yankas views is outright a bunch of nonesense. A coalition of the willing doesn’t work, that is why having a governing body like the parliament is so important to ensure all interests are at least somewhat satisfactorily met.
Any future in which the EU is not in the picture is a bleak one for Europeans. In fact continued integration is the only way we can actively try to avoid a dark future for our people. If we are left squabbling just as we did for centuries the only thing we will get is more war, suffering and a depleted population.
if the eu was racist britain wouldn't have left
@@cheekypop The UK is probably the least racist country in Europe. The last prime minister was a Hindu of Indian extraction and the current leader of the opposition is a black women raised in Nigeria.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k doesn't matter the dreadful optics of letting millions of brown men march through europe in 2015 was the straw that broke the camels back with brexit. plenty of people still want their country to remain white
@@Lawrence4000-s3k doesn't matter the dreadful optics of letting millions of brown men march through europe was the straw that broke the camel's back with brexit. plenty of people still want their country to remain white
@@Lawrence4000-s3k doesn't matter the dreadful optics of letting millions of arab men march through europe was the straw that broke the camel's back with brexit. plenty of people still want their country to remain white
Stop with the "Competition made Europe great, we need to do it again" BS.
You are living in a universe where USA literally exist, how can you support such thesis ?
And for the people saying the other way around "Europe economy can't be strong when divided in +20 countries against USA and China". American companies has no issue taking over all 20 countries market, why Europeans can't ? And don't try to explain it by "US companies can start with a bigger market". Every companies today grow their market slowly, city by city, state by state, etc... Americans do it, Chineses do it, Europeans can do it too.
The reason of our downfall is clear and simple:
- Over-confidence, many Western Europeans do not realize how far behind we are falling, they still think China is poor and USA is a capitalistic hell.
- Over-regulation, European politicians were left unchecked, they grew the size of their budget and political reach for decades, many new laws after new laws, new taxes after new taxes. EU is the embodiment of that mentality, as no Europeans know or care what they are doing in Brussels, and European bureaucrats profit from that.
- Degrowth mentality, the political elite, especially on the left, made Europeans think that the end of the world is near, that there is no futur, and also that the people should hate themselves. Europeans have no more spirit like Americans or Chineses have.
Fix those 3 problems, and Europe will be number 1 in no time.
It may not be number 1 again but it will be in a much better place than it is now and where it will be if it continues as it is now. Your point one will address itself in time (it will become obvious how far we've fallen behind); point 2 could be addressed but it's difficult in a bureaucracy; and point 3 is the tricky one and one to which I have no answer..
based af. point 2 is the nail in the head while point 3 is really tricky to find solutions to.
@@Lawrence4000-s3k
It's all about spirit. A nation that has virtue (low corruption and low violence) and believe in the futur, can push itself out of misery.
Japan, South Korea, Singapore and China did it very impressively in the last century.
Nordic countries did it during the 18th century
France did it after 1794 and 1870
Most of Europe did it after 1945
Germany, Poland, Estonia did it after 1990s
Etc...
I think that El Salvador and Argentina are doing it today.
All it takes is few daring, competent and selfless leaders, to start a positive feedback loop for decades, and that is it.
More I work in large companies, more I study history and geopolitics, more I realize how it all comes down to good leadership.
Some countries made political and economic systems that are especially good at allowing good leaders to emerge, like USA, but in the end, that is the baseline.
@@mrsupremegascon I'm not too sure that world exists today, sadly.
If you ever read the Guardian in the UK it's page after page of misery and national self-loathing. Young people, in particular, are infected by this.
I can't speak for anywhere else but the UK feels like France in the 1930s - there was no chance anyone was fighting for that place in 1940 and they were done!
And political leadership is at an all time low. It's become a career - straight from university to internship to politician. Fewer and fewer MPs now have ever had a real job so perhaps little wonder they are so out of touch.
Elon Musk mentioned the same in an article sometime ago - he was talking about US politics and their civil service and how quality has undoubtably decreased. I suspect it's happened everywhere in the west.
So if we don't have the leadership you mention then it's little wonder it's all a bit of a shambles. Let's hope it's not a death-loop!
@@Lawrence4000-s3k
You are perfectly right, as of today, there is no political good figures and the downfall of Europe continue.
If nothing change, we will end like Post-Peloponnesian Greece, Qing China, Byzantium, Tsarist Russia or the Ottoman.
We can be kept in that state for centuries.
But, in things can change pretty fast and dramatically.
Germans went from Weimar, to idolizing the funny mustache guy to being strong democrats or devout communist in less than 20 years
This shows how fast public opinions and political systems can change when there is will. Sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the best.
Today, Europe political system is very much unstable and ready for change.
UK is on going a massive political transition.
France is in political chaos.
Germany major political parties are weak.
'drowning in a sea of problems.' 'The EU could die'. Unlikely. If there is one thing our British 'friends' have shown us, the problems are not solved by breaking up. In fact, they could get very much worse. Individually, we would become easy targets for China, the US and right now, the great bear just across some very flat and difficult to defend plains, Russia. We can only keep going until better weather comes along.
Isn't it then ironic that 2 richest and most successful European countries - Norway and Switzerland, are not in the EU?
@@apacheattackhelicopter8185 But they have a very close association and neither one has shown any inclination to break it.
Norway has been helped by its discovery of oil and good management of it. Switzerland has been working to improve its economy for the last century or more and has been fortunate that quite a few of its people have been astute businesspeople.
In neither case have they shown any desire to leave the single market [Norway full access, Switzerland partial]
But no doubt, you British chappies [you are, aren't you?] will soon show us foreign Johnnies how to thrive outside the EU.
Go on, show us how you are still the boss, the leader of nations as Blair puts it [and look where that got him].
How's that Canzuk notion going? Maybe Canada, Australia and NZ noticed how you acted in the EU.
Also EFTA downright refused to countenance UK membership...'You have a reputation, you know' ...
You are forgetting the Turks are your biggest threat especially to the EU states bordering them.
@@apacheattackhelicopter8185 But they are in the single market and have no intention of leaving.
Like UK did really exit....
One of the EU's most long standing examples of wilful myopic stupidity is its migration policy, or should I say its lack thereof. Italy, Greece and Spain (the 'Frontline' states in this context) have, for year after year after year, been left swinging in the wind by their northern brethren. Then as problems associated with undocumented migration began to more directly affect the EU's northern members, to nobody's great surprise we have seen a burgeoning of the Right wing vote across Europe, a political orientation which it is fair to say receives only grudging acknowledgement within the EU's parliament building in Brussells. Nonetheless it's impressive to observe the way the EU still remains a reasonably cohesive trading and political entity despite such pressures.
The only problems are that the capitalists don't share the excessive profits that migrants produce and instead get fools like you to blame workers. Wake up ffs
As someone who’s economically leftwing, anti-traditionalist, but also really anti-immigration this sucks as idk what to vote for. Social Democrat prob the closest to my views but I think I might just vote blank lol
The problem isn't our migration policy. It is the sheer unwillingness to apply said migration policies and / or asylum policies. The laws are already there to prevent mass illegal migration and welfare leeches from coming / staying in the EU; the EU (and thus, by extension, its member states) simply refuse to exercise the law.
34:00 "neo-medievalism"
bruh that's just literally American Federalism
Literally corpofeufalism
Neo medevil is a ridiculous name
anyone who says bruh on a geopolitics vid is too young to be here and doesnt know what they are talking about.
@ irrelevant.
What matters is the veracity of the statement
. bruh 1) Im 28 years old and use bruh. 2) The use of slang cannot reliably correlate with a lack of intelligence or ability to comprehend or make educated points. Frfr on god, no cap. 3) let's not gatekeep an interest in politics and our world :) let's encourage the young to be a part of this, so they grow into educated adults!
People really look at the EU in the wrong way. It is one of the most monumental achievements of humanity and we just take it for granted. Yes, many European countries have animosity towards others due to history but despite this they were able to form the Union. It might not work very efficiently but it does work and it does certainly well considering that 27 very different countries are trying to stir one ship in the same direction.
Many claim that the EU doesn't work because of its internal differences but it is much better to look at it and see that it works despite those internal differences. 80 years ago the same countries that have formed the Union tried obliterate each other. There are still people alive who lived through the times when the world seemed to be ending and those same people see that the enemies are now sitting at one table and albeit inefficiently but try to make the future of Europe better.
There is room for change but we should look at the big picture and see where we came from. Instead of burying the EU over the slightest hurdles we should cooperate to make it better to not ruin what three generations have built up.
" It is one of the most monumental achievements of humanity" you gotta be kidding, its first policy is bring in millions of non europeans. Regardless of whether or not you're pro immigration. Bringing in non Europeans makes the whole process of creating a union for europeans absolutely insane. The whole base premise is that these countries should come together because they have something in common. An ethnic identity is no longer shared between countries. You might as well just call it "a union for where cars drive on the left".
Agreed.
Nice to see my comments have been deleted, good to know this place is run by shills. The EU is a joke, Europe is sinking into the demographic abyss
In the end it doesn't matter, america owns europe and will till the end of time, you guys traded your own sovereignty for protection, I hop those low paying jobs with a stupidly long vacation time and socialist healthcare was worth it.
@@gyurtominecraft In the end what does it matter? europe is completely useless and helpless with our the US, I really hope that you guys having months worth of vacation, crap and uncompetitive pay and socialist healthcare and mass ethnic replacement was worth trading your sovereignty for security.
As a Norwegian I only like the single market and the Schengen agreement, the fishing, farming and public spending regulations are crazy! How can Poland, Finland, Ireland and Italy be under identical farming regulations? Or, why can't we in Norway, as an EEC member, demand that public works bidders have a given number of Norwegian apprentices hired as a requirement for taking part in the bidding process? Most EU legislation is very much targeted at the UK, (from when they were a member), France and Germany
A possible solution to EU legislation benefiting the biggest players could be for laws in the EU to require approval from most member states in a vote, but for each member state’s vote to count only as one vote. This way, all member states get equal representation in approving new laws, but singular members such as Hungary can’t single handily stop entire motions within the EU, making lawmaking more fair, yet also more efficient. As for agricultural customs, I believe that is something that should for the most part be moved to the member states due to climate related reasons
The conclusion of your video fall apart once you realise that the current structure of the EU does in no way forbid or even hindered unions of the willing. Those frequently happen, with a notable example of the helping of Ukraine without the support of Hungary.
You are proposing a system that already exist while also suggest to step away from a powerful tool for the few times all of the EU countries meet an agreement.
wow so much Democracy!
@Akna6901 you are not making sense.
@@leGUIGUI so vetos dont matter in the eu
@Akna6901 yes they do
You are making even less sense.
@@leGUIGUI see? Saying you are making no sense is degrading my opinion... No they dont matter... You just said it yourself, that vetos dont hold power
I think is a misreading. European nations trust each other but don’t trust the unelected EU bureaucrats. And the reason why they are acting on their own more is due to having to deal with immigration against the dictates of the EU.
Fair points, i would like to point out that is one of reasons why we as europeans who have the option to make change in the eu via such as vote should strive to make the eu more transparent and democratic, making changes such as letting the eu parlament (voted by us the people) have a say in who gets to be commissioner and the main face of the eu,making voting process of said commissioners more transparent instead of behind closed doors and so on an so on.
Bureaucrats execute the will of the council, the commission and so on. They are simply employees to do a job the elected politicians need them to do. Are you British that you struggle with that concept?
Absolutely agree.
Trans-national identities don't make sense to us.
We want our government to be at least slightly tied to us as the people.
If someone is willing to step away from their nation to instead try governing this big trans-national... thing, then where do their loyalties lie?
There's also the issue of vote dilusion.
Even if you do have a fully democratic EU, you run into the issue that the EU (If the UK remained part of it) has a population in excess of 500 million. More than the USA.
Remember, that when you're in a club of 20 dudes, your single vote carries 1/20th of the power, if you're in a county of 10,000 then your vote carries 1/10,000th of the power, and if you are in a big multi-national federation of 500,000,000 people, then your vote carries 1/500,000,000 of the power.
Larger and more populated states are less democratic by virtue of their sheer size.
This is also why there's nothing wrong with countries that have aging populations choosing to depopulate until they get to the point of being able to repopulate again rather than accepting unlimited immigration, diluting their ethnic balance just to stay afloat, or worse, to artificially increase demand for services that are limited and drive up the price.
@@TV-xm4ps 1. Bureaucrats can be like any other profession incompetent 2. It's highly naive to think that everyone will just be on board with whatever administration is in charge and not sabotage policies they politically disagree with. Especiallly in a polarised society like ours.
All bureaucrats are unelected. Why single out the EU's?
EU became a mess . I voted to remain for EU unity and still would
But needs major changes
I am pro EU, I am would love to see UK rejoin, but the Brexit was needed to tell EU bureaucrats that they can still lose their job in shame if they continue to ignore the people.
I can respect that position 👍🏻. I'm firmly on the pro-Brexit side and the number of 'remainers' who talk only about 'their' freedom of movement as the reason for staying in drives me crazy.
I love your analytics, thank you
this was a treat, love long-form content :)
Almost all that you said is true in a way, but this video still misses the no.1 real point of the EU. Sovereignty for Europeans.
Most people think the choice that the Nations in the EU face is, join the EU or stay independent. That is completely wrong. The choice is between the EU (a power you get to co lead) and a foreign empire. The UK is a wonderful example of this. They left and first became a 3rd world country and then immediately US interest groups started pouring money in their political parties. They didn't want to be part of the village(EU) and are thus are getting eaten by a predator(US). It's also pretty telling that all parties that oppose the EU also like sucking up to Putin, except the UK's Reform party which is American property.
Together we stand, divided we fall.
This channel is a gem
Very hard to find content at such level
Some commenters here forget that the EU has always had various sub-groups by coalitions of the willing!
Eurozone, Schengen, Customs Union, and several more are initiatives that some but NOT ALL EU countries have joined.
3 seas initiative
NATO
The core issue with EU is that it builds on the idea of integrated statehood and an EU state in style with the HRE. Some European countries, likely all if we go far enough back was formed from a number of smaller states, that is why the politicians think this can be repeated with all of Europe, but it can not, maybe it can over hundreds of years, but not at the speed our politicians push for this.
15:00 "Extremist groups" shows a bunch of 90's liberals.
LOL!
Liberals are extremists 😊
Liberal = Extremist 😊
Selling your country's future for russian money isn't called liberalism, it called treason.
Since when are liberals not extremist?
@@tim3440 Not even Communists said that all men are created equal.
Greetings form the US. Your videos are always informative , timely, and insightful.
And oversimplified
Creating a special ministry of finances for all the EU or at least the euro zone would make it more efficient and practical
Create another Bureaucracy? Not so efficient I think.
Typical EU rotted brain thinking creating ministries will help…
Very informative video. Exactly how I see the evolution of Europe from fragmentation and conflict to unity and national cooperation
It is simplistic to pretend that individual countries are monolithic when just like the EU these member states are internally fragmented by various political positions. I wholeheartedly disagreed with the Nordstream pipeline project as did many Germans. Yes, we are in an evolutionary development, but the forces of history are driving us into each others arms and not apart. No citizen in the EU under the age of 95 has ever taken up arms against another EU citizen. The simple truth is that we are stuck in times of extraordinary upheaval and the only solution for survival - evolution so to say - is more cooperation, not less. No system looks stable at the moment or does anyone want to say that the UK after Brexit, the USA, China or Russia are doing just fine. I am a geographer and have travelled the world. There is one simple truth at the end of the day. Europe is hands down the best place to live on the planet. That also means we are much better than we think. And by the way one of the nice things about being nearly 60 is that I have heard all this oh, we are falling apart, we are falling behind again and again. My message is simple: stay cool and cooperate and we will avoid the worst but if anyone believes that we are able to live through the multiple challenges of demographic and climate collapse and much more unscathed and all can stay the same you have not understood that evolution means change. Always!
The US watching and saying hold my beer.
@@lanceroparaca1413 no beers will be held, my friend
The Holy Roman Empire'isation of Europe may not be as cheeky and simple as you might wish
22:14 my political science professor laid out why this is also a bad thing for the less developed countries. A lot of that aid is subsidizing education. Young scholars learn in their home country and are taught skills applicable in a Bureaucratic or STEM settings and are then attracted to work in Central Europe.
Thus it’s somewhat similar to the ‘concentration’ mechanic of EU4. You invest in the periphery but incentivize the workers to move to your country. You reap the benefits of their education and it dampens the demographic collapse as new young motivated people move into your cities. On the contrary this depresses the periphery and is why we see so many states, particularly in the Balkans, lagging so heavily behind.
This actually happens in the US as well. Cities have continued to concentrate opportunities which has led to an increase in inequality as once prosperous rural towns decay and cities become overcrowded with high demand for goods and services.
Edit- Nevermind you kind of touch on this but the funding is a crucial part of that brain drain
As European living in the area of the Netherlands I hope we start feeling Europeans soon.
As a european from the eastern block, its not gonna happen anytime soon...we are europeans but we had different lessons from history... survival vs. self expression
It's starting to happen and a lot of it thanks to Trump and Putin.
I am a European, but I am Dutch.
I won't every renounce my sovereignty.
Over my dead rotting corpse.
@@teaser6089 imaging all people saying that in Europe in 1444. I know we ain't there yet, but we will loose our wealth and sovereignty also we we remain this splintered in a world where distances are defined by the speed of information. China and the us are our neighbors/competitors now
@@teaser6089 do you really have any sovereignity, though?
What you do on your own is heard in Beijing, Moscow, Dehli, Washington?
There's cities in those countries with more people than your whole country. You're peanuts to them.
Best video I have seen for a long time. Thank you!
Figure it out, Europe. Dont make me come over there
In Spain, my sister doesn't want to have children.
Nobody seems to want to have children.
Too much work
Nature is defined by the law of struggle, if you're not willing to struggle to exist then someone else will.
@@foodistzen So it will be.
My mom told her "if nobody has children there will be no future people".
She answered "then let the civilization die, for what it's worh...".
What she meant was "Let the spanish civlization die"
You ancestors / parents / grand parents worked far more, were far poorer and had more children.
It's not too much work, it's just that people simply value their career more than children. Which is what happen with every group of people that get offered the opportunity of a career.
Before it was reserved to the elite, and the elite usually had fewer children than the bottom class. Now it is the case for everyone.
@@foodistzenwhich is what happened on a micro level with Jewish communities, in the early 20th century liberal Jews outnumbered conservatives now conservatives make a much larger portion of the Jewish population, this cyclical trend seems to be the case on a small level , it may also happen on a much larger scale
@@mrsupremegasconfor my grandparent having a child was beneficial past age 8-9 my father would help out in the farms and grazing animals. Nowadays it is a net “detriment” to have a child when you have to subsidise it until age 18 and even beyond that
I see a lot of comments disagreeing with the video. I disagree too, but I think the analysis is as usual spot on on the crux of the matter: things cannot continue the way they do, so what is to be done?
The problem as I see it is that the three pillars of "competition, national interest and the search for consesus" as they are listed at 26:30 are very hard if not impossible to balance. No.1 and no.2 brought us the Europe that we wanted to get rid of, the Europe with a gazillion of wars in the last hundred years, and two major wars in the last century, that almost destroyed it. No.1 and no.2 throws away no.3. How do you draw the line between "competition, national interest" and war in Europe? As it historically proved impossible to be drawn and that's why we have the current set up which proved not to be a solution.
"Coallition of the willing" is a euphemism for "every man for himself" What if there is not enough critical mass of the "willing" in certain issues, and the others don't give a damn? Take for example the Russian aggression. If Russia eventualy swallows Ukraine and then wants some more, the Eastern and Nordic states won't be enough to detter it. While Spain and Portugal and even germany and France might shrug their shooulders and say "not our problem". The "coalition of the willing" resembles in way with the "Europe of sovereign states", the Europe that the populist-sovereignitists parties advocate, which - again - is the Europe that we wanted to be a thing of the past. In the realm of international relations it might also mean a return to bilateralism - which is what Russia wants. With stronger states - like germany and France, who laso have strategic depth and do not share a border - deal in one way, with smaller ones and closer to you, in another. In this scenario, a Ribentropp- Molotov 2.0. is not totally off the table.
I also disagree with the opinion the Europe shouldn't strive to become a major player in the world game of power, like China or the US. The game of power might just break into your home without asking. With Russia challenging the post- Cold War geopolitical status quo, I'm afraid that "we don't want any of this", the ostrich policy is not an option. Economically too, even major economic powers like Germany or France cannot compete with China and the US. Europe might end up as a vassal, economically, politcally or both. I think it already is, and there's nothing to be done on the short term, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't strive.
But I agree with the analysis, that the EU as it was conceived it's a typical case of "too much, too fast". It created an artificial superstructure, a caste of bureaucrats increasingly disconnected from the real world and the real problems of the people, a caste which people came to resent and even hate. It atemppted to miss out the stages and to trick the natural evolutionary process of social development. And so it backfired.
What would be the solution? I don't think anyone has a straight answer, and I don't pretend to be qualified to provide one. But I can make a suggestion, an educated guess. I think we should return to the once discarded concept of two-gear Europe. And to the loathed concept by the multicultural narrative, still hegemonic in the European academia, of the nation-state. The nation-state which is not only an abstract concept, but in Europe still a persistent reality probably for a long way to come. So a two-gear Europe and three leading nations: Germany, France and Poland, with Germany as a primus inter pares, the main connector, and part of both of them.
The two Europes would both create their membreship according to geography, common historical-cultural background, similar level of economic development, common security interests. One would be Western Europe, the other Central-Eastern Europe, or "Mitteleuropa". It can be argued that Western Europe gathers the states which are more economically developed -although of course there cannot be clear-cut lines. One could always argue that based on this criteria Portugal and Czechia should switch camps. There is a shared history on both camps, although of course, "shared" doesn't mean "honeymoon" -quite the opposite on many occasions. The security criteria is also crucial: for the Western Europe, Russia is not an existential threat, for the Mitteleuropa it is. The nordic states could be an important connector. From an economic and cultural point of view, they are related to the Western Europe, from the one of security concerns, to the Eastern camp (especially Finland)
But the main connector and leader should be Germany. By its history, culture and security interests it belongs to both camps. It also has the economic force to shape up the dirrection of development, can (and must) become a major military power. I think that crucial for the future of Europe is how Germany assumes it's role of a leader, and what kind of leader it will be. It is already the leader, whether we like it or not, and many complain that EU policies are actually shaped on the interests of Germany. It should understand its role as a leader, mainly that it is its interest to keep Easter Europe as its backyard, and not let it become Russia's backyard, especially if confronted with an American withdrawal. And of course not turn Eastern Europe into an object of bargain with Russia, in a soft or hard Ribbentrop-molotov style agreement. It should be a benevolent hegemon, bringer of prosperity and economic stability and careful to the historical sensitivity of this area towards her, especially's Poland's. In the long run, I think it might be an either-or scenario for this part of the world: either the economic fruitful, benevolent hegemony of Germany, or the military backed, violent, tuggish and poverty-bringing one of Russia which they know too well.
There are many "ifs" and "buts" of course. Which direction will Germany go? Will the national French and Polish pride give in and accept that although they are major European nations, they are not quite on equal footing with Germany? Especially considering their not so happily ever after history. Will the smaller state accept such a ranking-system? All in all a "coalition of willing", if you want, but not a loose one on the model of "Europe of sovereign states". Instead strucured around two or three solid connected cores, themselves created based on geographical, historical, economical and security criteria. With a nation-leader and two lieutants. With a gradually increased level of integration, including a future European army, and the whole process resumed. But this time organically, by "trial and error", not rushing to create artificial, untenable superstructures.
I think you articulated well the main issue: if you kill competitiveness, you drain the lifeblood of any social system. But too much competitiveness ends in war and conflict. How to have the cake and eat it too in Europe? This are the horns of our future dilemma here in this part of the world
Germany has a golden opportunity to work with its partners to sure up the European project.
If it visibly makes the effort abd sacrifices, leading by example and providing security, they really could move this forward.
France and Poland are rearing to go further. Georgia and Ukraine are crying desperately for help.
The Baltics deserve their own futures.
Finland and Sweden are now on-board for defence.
Get it done, get it done fast. Make Europe the shining example is pretends to be.
Well the issue with that is that germany has a foreign policy based on making ourself small and pretend that we are just one of many to not scare anybody, the moment we throw around our power and influence some people will be scared and for example france wouldnt accept a German lead european federation, same with the poles, italians or spanish, thats not even talking about hungary or slovakia blocking a lot of stuff importsnt for the eu.
Reform in the eu is needed and the critical thing is to get rid of the need to have unanimous suport for changes, as keeping that will lead to a slow end of the eu and it being replaced with other organisations.
@max-imal8588 both you 🐵s literally have zero clue what you're talking about 😂😂😂
Quality content. Podziękowania i dalszych sukcesów w roku 2025.
United you stand or divided you fall. Western Europe and Eastern Europe have a vested interest creating a strong federal system. The external threats are real and the inability to keep up with technological changes is equally troubling. I wish Europe all the best. Unfortunately, we in the US have our own dumpster fires with which we must contend.
Damn, the comment section shitting on this video.
People who support the EU doesn't understand history, social development, or how humans work. The EU only exists because of the US and it's existence has led to stagnancy and complacency as the managerial class soaks up every drop of wealth for themselves while producing nothing.
The Hunger Games melting pot of diverse conflict, while painful, is exactly what made Europe a powerhouse. It hardens countries into robust unified entities rather than opaque, self-loathing masses they are today. They had pride and ambition. Centralization of the continent makes it slow, unimportant, and lumbering. It cannot manage it's external trade without the US. The second the US steps back, the EU will crumble due to infighting over needs and cultural differences. The EU represents nobody but itself, it doesn't net represent Germans, French, Italians, etc.
Well done, you've just described European Enhanced Cooperation which has existed since the Amsterdam Treaty. 🙄
From Wiki:
"In the European Union (EU), enhanced cooperation (previously known as closer cooperation) is a procedure where a minimum of nine EU member states are allowed to establish advanced integration or cooperation in an area within EU structures but without the other member states being involved.[1] As of October 2017, this procedure is being used in the fields of the Schengen acquis, divorce law,[2] patents,[3][4] property regimes of international couples, and European Public Prosecutor and is approved for the field of a financial transaction tax."
Thanks GDBD. Don’t let the bots shake you. Those who know agree and they’re in sync with ya 👌🥂
While analysing geopolitical dynamics, you should stick to geopolitical theories and models. There's a methodological reason for why Darwinism applied to social sciences isn't something taken seriously nowadays. It has led to misapplication of methodology, theories and resulted in eugenics.
State-sponsored unaliving is the hot new thing in town & all the media coverage around it make it clear that it won't be used on people with disablities. What would you call that? Dysgenics?
GTBT clutch research as always 🫡👏
Well done, thank you, happy New Year 2025
I have always thought that if the five main countries in Europe (Germany 🇩🇪, France 🇫🇷, the United Kingdom 🇬🇧, Italy 🇮🇹 and Spain 🇪🇸) were more united on an economic, commercial and military level, we could compete better with the United States 🇺🇸, China 🇨🇳 or Russia 🇷🇺.
But the United Kingdom has always prioritized the relationship with the United States more than with Europe, Germany and France are immersed in serious political and economic instability and although the situation is now a little better in Italy and Spain, we are not exempt from possible instability.
Obviously, the problem is that it's not likely to happen and would be very hard to do. Aligning that many countries' interests is near impossible.
I want to stand with the Anglosphere. To say I have a hatred of the EU now would be an understatement.
Those 5 big countries always forget the League of Small Nations.
We already saw what Germans could do, especially between 1933 and 1945, so no, thank you! We do not need more concentration camps under German leadership!
I gave your comment a like because I agree the UK feels much more at ease in the company of English speaking nations as we can integrate far easier with each other. If you think 5 eyes is just intelligence sharing, google 5 Countries Ministerial… that’s Anglosphere starting!
how well did the coalition of the willing model work for the greek city states? eventually Rome won and not through coalitions of willing but through integration within a system.
we must find other ways to integrate in union around common grounds and not loose our diversities. toughest job but also greatest.
What Europe is doing now will lead to annexation by America in the same way that it did with Greece back in the day
First class content even tho my ears begun to bleed at the end of this video
Europe should unite into a large federation like the United States, with significant devolution of powers but under an overarching system of continent-wide laws, common defense, economic policy, etc. The United States would not be the superpower it is today if it were some soft "coalition of the willing" among the 50 states. That would be a mess, and we all speak the same language and have the same culture, broadly.
Thing is that practically all of those proposals you said already have been achieved - the Treaty of the European Union established a European Parliament, Court and fundamental principles, such as the adherance to liberal democracy, human rights, a common market etc, the EU has many laws and regulations that supersede that of the nations and the Court of Justice of the EU also supersedes the courts of individual nations. The EU also has a common defence pact that's effectively a copy of NATO's Article Five - this is why Russia won't accept Ukraine in the EU as a "compromise" to it not being in NATO, since it being in the EU basically gives it the same protections as NATO just without the US or Canada.
I'll be honest here, this channel (Good Times Bad Times) is very negatively minded and is spinning things in a negative way. They are also heavily Pro-Turkish biased and slightly critical of the EU and NATO.
In reality, the EU already is a very powerful bloc on the world stage. The EU already is the second most important player in international relations to the US, and certainly is in the world economy, in fact a lot of the product standards we have today are set by the EU and then impact the globe because the EU is such a large market that it is easier to adopt products to EU rather than creating a separate EU version of that product.
The EU doesn't need federalization, we aren't the US, we aren't culturally similar enough to ever justify it and in my opinion a Federation on the scale of Europe simply just wouldn't work - it would destabilize us more than likely. Where the EU could do better is likely to set an minimum GDP target for its member states in terms of military spending and also work towards the acceptance and establishment of English as the de facto language of official communications and business, and make sure everyone learns it to a good enough extent. This would then allow concepts such as an EU Army to become more feasible.
In reference to the EU's "troubles" - the reality is that economic decline, housing shortages, declining birth rates, energy crises are troubles that EVERY major economy is going through, and actually the European countries have been least affected. The US, Japan, South Korea are all undergoing much worse issues than the EU, and China peaked in 2019 and is on the verge of a total demographic collapse.
French and German officers and Czech, Polish and Bulgarian soldiers on the 1st front. Large investments and gas pipelines in Germany and the rest of Europe will also receive with a small tax. This is how I see your federalization. When the West starts to respect the East, we will start talking about community.
They should make a Union of Europeans. Take Europeans from all across the world and find a place for them. Not sure what you'd call such a place, tell me if you figure it out.
@@dixonhill1108 Where's the point?
I believe Europe should federalize, but not like the United States. Contrary to your beliefs, Europeans do not all speak the same language or have the same culture, even broadly. They value some of the same things, yes, but that does not make them the same. Rather, a European federation should be constructed to build on the existing strengths of each member state while also helping each other develop new strengths as well, according to the individual characteristics of each nation. For example, the Nordic countries as well as (maybe) the Netherlands would function as the EU’s “Silicon Valley,” Germany and France could be the centers of European industry, France and Italy could be the centers of European design, Spain could be the center of European business, etc, while Eastern European countries would be given the resources to develop growing industries such as the Czech Republic’s growing engineering sector. Then as nations join/rejoin the union, their strengths can be incorporated into the union’s existing framework. For example, if Britain comes back, they could excellently supplement German and French industry, Norwegian business could build upon Spanish business, Ukrainian electrical and computer engineering could develop with other Eastern European countries, giving Ukraine a potential pathway into the European “Silicon Valley,” etc. Additionally, a system should be implemented that would allow member states to still maintain sovereignty; something like the system in Switzerland, for example. This would allow each nation to focus on its core strengths while distributing those benefits across the rest of the EU (for example, a device that is designed in Finland or the Netherlands, but that is produced in Germany or France with marketing campaigns spearheaded by Spanish advertisers). In this way, all nations benefit from the strengths of all other nations without themselves having to expand into those categories, creating an EU in which all nations involved prosper and thrive
I really like the thought exploration. Not that I agree with the potential ways forward presented, I don't think I liked hearing them, I'm sure I can think of some others. But aside from my own biases, I appreciate the way the subject is introduced and visions articulated. Very well done and why I have been following for such a long time. Thank you.
If we are to have a united Europe, I totally agree with Zielonka's prescription.
Sorry, but I disagree about many points.
1) You fundamentally convey the image of an EU as a German imperialistic project. You warn against nationalism and populism but that's exactly what populists say, with the notably exception of German populists who want to dismantle the EU. To those Germans the EU is against their national interests. Historically Germany has been reluctant to take a leading role in the EU, Germany didn't even want the creation of the Euro. It's true that Germany has been pursuing it's national interests, but that's exactly what every nation has been doing. The EU is not a german hegemonic project per se.
2) You complain about the lack of bigger Eastern European companies while western companies take profit from Eastern markets. Do you really believe that without those western companies the Eastern states would be better today? Eastern Europe came out from communism, it's not so easy to build new companies in a post-communist environment. Thanks to western companies Eastern Europeans had lots of jobs and acquired the know how through which, in time, they can found other companies.
3) Comparing the EU public transfers to Eastern nations to the profits of western companies is pure nonsense. And again that's a populist dishonest claim. The transfers are public money from all European taxpayers. The western companies profits are shareholders' money. You can easily take an amoumt of that profit by buying those stocks.
4) An hypotetical federal European model does not mean to end the competition between member states or between companies. A federation is, by its very meaning, a decentralised structure. It's all about its design. We are not talking about the creation of a centralised superstate with France as a model. But, according to Mario Draghi, a more integrated European market could lead to more economies of scale, bigger players in the global arena and so more prosperity. The same is true about defence spending or other forms of public spending.
A clarification: the 800mln€ proposed by Draghi as investment are not entirely public money in his plan. In fact they would mostly be private funds.
5)I tell you a secret: Switzerland is rich because it's free riding the European market and because it's a fiscal haven. The Union could theoretically starve Switzerland at will.
Excellent breakdown of the facts this video skirts around. Glad someone could distill it all so eloquently.
thank you. i notice 2 things. this channel is usually not providing sources and is very selective in his sumaries for his agenda.
This channel is next level
make a video about
1)the possibility of a kurdish state.
2)Greek army modernization to counter turkey's neo-ottoman ambisions
3)What would happen if Russia attacked the baltic states and not all of nato countries respond
4)The new geopolitical reality in the middle east, how much in a stronger position is Israel really?
5)Lesser known wars in the world
modernization? have you looked at the numbers? Per current Greek programs Greece will fall further in numbers and technical edge in the next 2 decades. They will have 4 frigates in a decade after Meko modernization is now also cancelled. Meanwhile Turkey will have new built or modernized 12 frigates, 10 OPVs and 4 destroyers. Greece will have about 150 modern or modernized fighters, while Turkey will have about 300 modern or modernized fighters even before Kaan enters service in numbers.
@@TheKurtkapan34 How will Greece fall behind in technical edge when its already ahead of turkey? Greece has many more f16 vipers, they have rafales and we get more and they have f35 soon. Greece will be certainly ahead of turkey at least in the air for the decade ahead of us. Unless turkey gets eurofighters and f35 which is questionable.
About sea its true that turkey will have more but Greece will also get corvettes and constellation frigates, not just the 5 belhara frigates. Meko modernization might still happen.Also Greece is investing in drones and anti drone warfare, electronic warfare, it is creating a 4 layered anti-missile and anti-drone iron dome system, it is slowly starting to boost its own defense systems and in the future it will demand 15% of everything to be build in Greece which will give Greece technical knowledge and the percentage will slowly increase and Greece will build more and more of its own weapons.
Lastly, in the navy even though turkey will have more ships it will still be even or maybe even Greece will have the advandage with its thousands of islands. With very cheap weapons and without a proper navy ukraine has annihilated the navy of russia in the ukraine war. Just imagine what would happen if turkey entered in the aegean with its navy. Our ships are to be used for the meditteranian and cyprus as well as in missions like the operations against the houthis. Greece will heavely millitarize every island, islet and rock in the aegean, increase its nautical miles to 12 and deny access to any potential bad actor. The aegean IS a greek lake and will become a bigger headache for turkey than taiwan is for china. Its going to be a deathzone for every enemy navy
@@TheKurtkapan34 Also Turkey has changed its order of f16s and will not reach 300 modern or modernized fighters
And Greece will have 200 modern fighter jets of 3 types only. Only f16 vipers, rafales and f35
@@TheKurtkapan34 if my first comment visible or deleted by youtube? because i can't see it anymore
The Kurdish states an odd one since it’s not in an official capacity in rojava but if Turkey tries to crack down on them there’s no telling what sort of powder keg might kick off
They(the EU) should have left Europe to the Europeans.
I want to create a Union of Europeans, where Europeans can live, we just have to find somewhere that is a safe space for Europeans. Any ideas?
@@dixonhill1108 Take back what's ours?
Prayers for Europe. I hope you guys can figure it out.
Very true, we got lazy and complacent in Europe, thinking that our wealth is an eternal given. Competition was neglected for standardisation, focusing on so called compliance with Western democratic values. Along with this we have lost our creativity, being busy complying with overburdening bureaucratic EU regulation demands. China clearly is outperforming the EU economically and politically.
The perspective that Western Europe became lazy as a consequence of easy access to Eastern Europe market is an interesting one.
Having lived and worked in Western Europe for a few decades, I can tell that what I observed was a bit different. Maybe because I was directly embedded on the front line.
Rather, I have seen a single generation (the boomers) in charge during the whole ordeal
(except the early years, where a few members of the silent generation were still in charge, displaying a work ethic that I've never seen again after that),
and for the most part, the boomers were interested in one thing: reach the retirement age, at max benefit, with minimal effort, and zero risk.
They couldn't care less about what they left behind.
For example, they would be perfectly content to sell off the secret advantages of their companies to foreign competitors in exchange for a quick buck, knowing very well that it will negatively impact the future of their company and all those they left behind.
I can't stress how many I've seen leaving the workforce early with a generous compensation package within their 50's, all paid by debts, currently burdening the following generations.
Those that remained kept all the power. When I left, power was distinctly occupied by a single age class, ageing in perfect tandem every year.
This happen to coincide with the end of cold war and enlarging of the European Union.
But is it the cause ? I have difficulties to think so. The lazyness of a single entitled generation seems largely at play here.
A plausible argument might be that the extension to Eastern Europe helped hide the mounting inefficiencies. Maybe.
I don't know enough to draw such a conclusion. I did not see it because the companies I worked for were barely doing any business with Eastern Europe, but it does not mean it did not happen.
Interesting perspective!
The simple problem of the e.u is they want to stay separate nations and together at the same time the e.u has two choices separate back to nation states or actually form a European country
So many comments by expert historians and policy makers it seems. Good analysis, I think it encourages some thought in all of us. Even if people don't agree with everything, I believe these sorts of analyses are useful. Thank you.
13:10 No losses of independence in the U.S.A or elsewhere in the Americas? The natives and imported immigrant slaves would disagree.
At the national level sweaty, pay attention.
Yeah always funny how people conviently forget about the tens of millions of native Americans that were slaughtered by the current inhabitants anchestors.
The eu would work if it was a representative govt. Right now the people of europe have no voice in the eu. Until that happens the eu sits with its hands tied.
Smaller countries like mine would lose their voice then
@@LucasRoach-t1j not really. A channel called EU Made Simple explains how a possible European federation could work far better than I can, but I’ll put it like this if I remember correctly (I’ll try to link the videos too so you can see what I’m talking about): the EU could create two chambers. In one chamber (we’ll call it the Chamber of the EU), you have representatives elected to represent the European Union as a whole. In the other chamber (we’ll call it the Chamber of the Member States), you have representatives from each member state elected to represent their nation (ideally one per nation). A motion can only be passed in the EU if it is approved by both chambers. In this scenario, smaller countries such as yours still have a voice in the proposition of laws and regulations, ensuring a structure that benefits all
Edit: Video Part 1: th-cam.com/video/tPdX5FEX1R0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qNuG9p-d7aZlUji5
Edit 2: Video Part 2: th-cam.com/video/riUfmvNzI-A/w-d-xo.htmlsi=czK1A-CQX9Y6LMBe
Edit 3: Video Part 3: th-cam.com/video/yJgFjuAVFoM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=fUd4lCYvl3ik4U0v
Calamity is always approaching. In some moments, its arrival is more imminent than others.
The EU is done for, just a matter of time now till we see countries withdrawing from it. Nationalistic and ethnic desires can be suppressed, but not indefinitely, hence the break up of the bloc.
they used to call some countries in the old world, "the old man of Europe", now it could be said that the old man is Europe itself.
Man this guy really needs to learn how to trim down his videos cause like 60% of his videos is him just droning on and on and on instead of talking about the stuff that's important and the stuff that we really wanna hear about.
For me it is not that bad. He is only giving us context.
He gets paid on watch time why would he want to drastically cut his pay?
E X A M P L E ?
Recommend bumping up the playback speed for sure
Jokes on you i wanna hear our polish man talk about geopolitics and current affairs for even more time than his usual video length
How are EU countries supposed to counter Moscow's influence as separate states? Moscow has no intention of letting each EU country remain independent and competitive. This is a very short-sighted perspective.
"Moscow has no intention of letting each EU country remain independent" Any evidence for this claim? Besides, it is the EU itself that restricts it member countries' sovereignity.
Western Europe is not concerned about Russia while Eastern Europe has to as they share borders with them. EU more focused on cultural policies imported from state of California, United States.
Old Roman maxim: Money doesn't stink. Especially gas from Russia.
The countries of the West have perfectly shown what "unity" and "democracy" are. There were no opportunities under the rule of the Muscovites, to whom they so easily give up the freedom of others.
Maybe they just can't counter that influence and we would be wise to recognise that fact? There's no point in Eastern Europe pinning its hopes on the west if the west has no interest in defence spending (and in fact has sent far more money to Russia since the start of the war than it has to Ukraine!). We need to have our eyes open to how the world actually is rather than how we wish it would be.
A fully funded French or German military would humiliate the Russian Army, but they just refuse to fucking do it.
Great movie (again), thank you.
I recently read about "Eurotopia" from Heiniken.. It was basicly a plan to devide European countries in multiple states , it would be 75 states based on cultural background and power..( even with help from historici , this way you would have less tensions in those states ) Cause he believed if you devide the countries , there wouldn't be a main power nor threat.. And this way we are kinda forced to work together..
I loved the idea , but kinda unrealistic (Maybe?).. I don't think most countries want to give up their power for such a project.. And alot of other questions like Language.. or how we gonna govern 75 states?
But not gonna lie , even hypothetical.. It was nice to see things from another perspective.
Altho , I didn't 100% agree on how the states wer sepperated .. Overall he actually did a great job.
Europe needs to reinvent itself quite a lot, it's clear. It needs more inner trust, vision, shared responsibility and still, despite the top end is very high, fumbles can be punished pretty hard.
11:24 third pic of human evolution should have had head down staring at a smartphone.😂
Excellent presentation.
What are Schengen, Eurozone, EEA, ESA, etc if not coallitions of willing (and able)
Damn mate! I have never seen so many people disagree with you ever tsfdctsfvhsc. I love your videos and takes ususally btw.
Sounds good, doesn't work.
The problem of this proposal of a loose coalition-building association is that politicians in each state would be heavily incentivized to drag their feet on common policies and to freeride. This could be seen in failures of ASEAN (paralyzed and unable to form any common policies e.g. vis-a-vis China) or UNASUR (practically dead now). Of course those regions can prosper as individual nations, however, their geopolitical weight is close to zero. Conversely, many of the highlighted issues are global trends affecting also states outside the EU.
Eurobarometer opinion surveys repeatedly show that vast majority of Europeans supports common trade, energy, defence and security policy - forming also absolute >50% majority in every single member state - so why throw this potential strength away, especially now when it is needed the most?
I understand that you get money from ads, but 2 ads every 3 minutes of content is just miserable. Guess im turning on my adblock browser 😞
use addblock, bro if you are on PC! ^_^
@@seapunkangel get yt premium
There are plugins that watch skipped stuffs in the background, so the platform thinks everything is fine.
Can you please add different sections to your videos. I dont want to watch Europes history but I know there are some that need to see it.
Your videos about EU are stages of lost.
Previous video was denial. This video is bargain. Next will be depression or acceptance.
Quality of life in EU is way better than in the USA
As an American I wouldn’t disagree the EU in total is generally better. “Way” better is of course arguable. The question I would have is how much of that better is due to the EU structure ? I question this because from the outside it appears to be a tremendous amount of administrative overhead for the benefits gained. Also, I would not agree that living in every state within the EU would be better than living in the United States. For instance Poland and Romania. All the best to you and yours.
@@erikanderson8093 I think Poland has earned being seen diferently, they have a surprisingly big economy now, Romania is still a good example.
But yeah, tbh all we have on you guys is like 4 good regulations, like sugar tax, public healthcare and so on. If you guys passed those youd literally be a richer version of Europe with all its benefits but still the twice as big salaries. Thats what it feels like
But it's going down rapidly. We need to avoid americanization of Europe. Immigration and dissolution of our culture is the biggest threat.
And it is rapidly declining
@@Ooz4ru I just wrote the same on my comment to go to deleted
By itself, Nationalism isn’t a Four-Letter Word. It starts going off the rails when you start adding an ‘-ism’ to a nationalistic movement…
Politician in brussel: since our beloved country belgium is about to colapse, let us bring EU to colapse with us
Belgium isn't anywhere near to collapse.
@MDP1702 belgium is litteraly and technicaly about to split in two
@@thegrandlord2914 No, it isn't. There is no popular support for separation (only 10-15%) and there is actually even slightly more support for status quo/more federalism than confederalism/splitting.
@MDP1702 that is good. That means channel promoting belgian separation already spreading hoax
Nice video
22:59 Well, you know... Foreign companies = foreign profits.
It's not like they're taking Polish or Hungarian money away... That money has never been theirs.
Europe had always had loose coalistions, when Spain was strong, France and England allied againts it. When France was strong Spain and England allied againts it. It will be the same. 30:31
Where did the chapters function go? Great video, but I sometimes have to step away and like viewing by sections.
This is just a description of a European Confederation
Which would be better then federation. So yes, here we go..
All confederations leeds forward to future federation
Swiss, america etc.
@giovannituber2827 There was not a single time in the human history where a confederation wouldn't transform into a federation relatively quickly or died suddenly. Ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Switzerland, United States...
👏great work
Unity is needed. You have to look to develop yourself in the first place, not react to what others are doing. More effective governance is needed.
I think the people want a federal EU and point to the U.S. as an example forget the fact just how culturally homogeneous the U.S was when the constitution was signed, with a population almost entirely British and Protestant. Even then, it was almost a miracle that the U.S stayed united post revolutionary war, that’s not even mentioning the fact that states and the federal government clashed repeatedly and still do to this day. I just see a lot of countries going the brexit route if the EU federalizes, especially for those in Eastern Europe did not sign up with the idea that they would have to hand over their independence as nations at some point. Then question becomes if that does happen, will the EU march troops down like the union did to the confederacy, how would that be perceived internationally and internally, there is just to many unknowns.
Good worked. 👍 You took the problems by heart. It should be done and start now rather latter. To keep flexible and strong. 💙👍
Very good job
I'm a European nationalist. A nationalist of the united European Federation. 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺💪💪💪
The Americas should be considered nothing more than a pan ethnic continuation of Europe.
Culture, not geography, is what matters here. The US and Canada are a continuation of Great Britain and Ireland--themselves becoming multi cultural democracies--and additional economic and military cooperation should be considered w/NATO, not EU, as the templet as the military alliance allows for greater sovereignty especially on the economic level.
LATAM, a continuation of Iberian culture as well as indigenous heritage, should also join the block.
Peace only comes through strength and this block would prevent global rivals from acting in an aggressive manner.
The West has weakened but European settler colonies will infuse the block with new vitality. The Commonwealth should also be examined for further partnership
America, Mexico, and Brazil have a better chance of directly annexing Britain, Spain, and Portugal respectively than them choosing to revitalize the old continent. Cultural ties and a better demographic profile will give them a disproportionate sway in European affairs and will allow for them to dominate their former colonizers. In other words: when the parents get too old sometimes it’s best for them to move in with their children
@@AmericanAdvancementhonestly it wouldn’t be a terrible idea
Great movie thank you
Europe is facing very similar problems to India and China 200 years ago when Europe was young and the world was its oyster.
Being filled with Asians?
Revolutionary ideas are cool topics for discussion but are risky and most likely will never be implemented in EU consisting of so many actors. We can start with less spectacular but easier to do things like: common stock exchange market, deregulate, spend more on arms and less on ideological fancy things. We are not doing even that.
3:30 who ever illustrated that map is a deceiver. They didnt even try to put an accurate map together.
?
Is it showing the wrong comment section again? I'm watching a video about 9/11...
Yes, it is indeed. This is a video about the EU and it's future.
A united Europe is all we can hope for.
Divided we are a bunch of dwarfs in a world of global powers.
Together we are one of the new great powers of the 21st century.
That we cannot risk. For our own sake and prosperity.
For that however the EU has to act in the interests of us Europeans and not those of lofty ideals.
I live in Sweden and Nordic country should create a coalition, Nordic United States, would be a powerhouse in the world.
European states did not band together for the common good on their own. Two external foreign superpowers suppressed nationalism (see Suez Crisis in 1956). Once the influence of external powers is gone, Europe will return to nationalist competition.
The guy has the most overly simplistic understanding of evolution to the point that just shows he does not understand it one bit, nothing about this and any similarity to biological evolution, as this is a nested hierarchy.
Also America is number 1. Europe is number 2 and responsible for colonialism and every evil ideology from Fascism to Communism. Europe would be better off as an occupied US territory paying a tribute tax. America got it right rejecting England and the old ways of Europe.
Didn't you lose at the ballot box?
@@foodistzen This guy supports PiS which lost at the ballot box and is now a joke in Poland.
@@alexanderrose1556 Poland is a vassal of the US and will do whatever the US wants them to
@@foodistzen Didn't you lose your racist main account?
I see lots of naysayers in the comments so far. I say that the author's reflections are food for thought. Coalitions of the willing are exactly that: peoples/tribes/nations/groups get together to promote common interests. What's not to like?