What Does It Mean to Be European?

Commenters across the web react to "The Myth of Europe."

631091_120217_Letters_Harding1.jpg
631091_120217_Letters_Harding1.jpg

"As to the critique that 'the European Union was built on the myth that we are one people with one common destiny,' one can only reply: so too were the nation-states that are taken for granted today."

“As to the critique that ‘the European Union was built on the myth that we are one people with one common destiny,’ one can only reply: so too were the nation-states that are taken for granted today.”

Alexandra Gheciu, University of Ottawa

 

“Over the past 60 years, most of Europe has experienced an unprecedented era of peace.… The EU should certainly be given at least some of the credit for that.”

Robin Lustig, BBC

 

“In Europe, the Soviets and the Nazis discovered that even brutal force wasn’t enough to wipe out national identities.… If force couldn’t do it, is it really all that surprising that a legalistic treaty and a ‘government’ dominated by bureaucrats can’t do it either?”

Doug Mataconis, Outside the Beltway

 

“It would not be foolish optimism to see a common identity emerging from eventual acceptance of stronger, shared obligations to sustain the common welfare.”

John Wyles, European Voice
Alessandra N. Ram is a researcher at Foreign Policy.

More from Foreign Policy

Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.
Residents evacuated from Shebekino and other Russian towns near the border with Ukraine are seen in a temporary shelter in Belgorod, Russia, on June 2.

Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes

A wave of fresh humiliations has the Kremlin struggling to control the narrative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva shake hands in Beijing.

A BRICS Currency Could Shake the Dollar’s Dominance

De-dollarization’s moment might finally be here.

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler in an episode of The Diplomat

Is Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’ Factual or Farcical?

A former U.S. ambassador, an Iran expert, a Libya expert, and a former U.K. Conservative Party advisor weigh in.

An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.
An illustration shows the faces of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin interrupted by wavy lines of a fragmented map of Europe and Asia.

The Battle for Eurasia

China, Russia, and their autocratic friends are leading another epic clash over the world’s largest landmass.