Tunisia case and the costly European recession-Corriere.it

CThe current crisis in Tunisia, a country that could at any moment be plunged into the chaos of a civil war, what can we say? The Tunisian crisis should force us to open our eyes. Europe has a serious security problem but does not realize it. In European countries, professionals with different skills are aware of this, but public opinion does not yet understand it. Europe’s security problem can be summed up as follows: The mother puppies seem ready to give up on their fate, and she is not ready to protect them from threats. America has changed and the threats have changed.

Consider Italy, the most obvious European country, compared to what is happening in the southern part of the old continent. Foreign Minister de Mayo’s visit to Libya shows the attention and concern of our government, following the visit of Prime Minister Troy some time ago. We are at the mercy of waves of potentially massive migration (we will notice it immediately if the civil war actually erupts in Tunisia) and the Mediterranean Sea, which is increasingly controlled by hostile forces: Russia, Turkey. Over the next few years they will oversee / manage human trafficking between Africa and Europe. Then there is the danger of terrorism: Maghreb, Tunisia and Libya are at the forefront, and like other parts of Africa, countless jihadists are waiting for the opportunity to lead their hands.

LEvidence that Italy, without exception, has little knowledge of the hazards that can be easily verified: Do you see that even one of the parties has been used with the blessing of the leader of an authoritative and expert politician who speaks to the country about international and security issues without resorting to slogans and campaigns at low cost? You can’t find one. If public opinion is alerted and awareness of the dangers is widespread, parties will be forced to prepare to communicate intelligently with voters.

The rest of Europe is not in the best condition. For years we toyed with meaningless slogans. Does anyone remember Europe as a civil power? The idea is that Europeans, in our relations with the rest of the world, are an example of virtue: civil, that is, peaceful, against those rude and violent American cowboys. This is a self-comforting film. Europe can replace the sword with diplomacy and trade as it enjoys American security. Security not only within the nuclear umbrella. The United States also defended us because it defended Europe, Russia from the East and all strategic and dangerous places in the Middle East. The European ignorance of how the facts stand is that when we benefited from their protection, many of us accused the Americans of not creating a force to be reckoned with. Developed state European type. Apart from the various cultural traditions, there was little detail that after World War II, Europe was able to acquire the luxury of developing expensive welfare systems because it had the resources to invest in weapons for American defense. And security.

Is there anything we can justifiably call Western countries? The meaning of the West in the political sense. Recommend that you readTheSheetLeon Wieseltier’s excellent and painful article, inspired by the Wilsonian International, New America.

Trump’s fierce debates against Europe elicited a smile, a handshake and hit Biden on the back. If so? Currently, there is no signal of a change in policy over the course of the Trump administration regarding the Middle East and the Near East, except for the resumption of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran. The power vacuum left by the Americans – and Biden is not ready to fix it – is being filled by other major powers (Russia, China) each day strengthening their positions and leaving maximum operational freedom to regional neo-imperialists (Turkey, Iran). . What if we find that the answer to the question still exists in Western countries? On the contrary, if it becomes clear that even Fiden will not be able to unite the United States and Europe (at least in terms of security), we will find it impossible to obtain a renewed and decisive US commitment to our southern alternative. All that remains is to trust Europe in order to support the Europeans in the rivalry between the Americans and the Chinese. The governments of Germany, France, but also Italy must take note of the changed international situation, raise their respective public views and take concerted decisions to address the new dangers.

But there is one, but not really many but. Germany, France and Italy, sooner or later, will face election campaigns that will stifle government initiatives. Not only that, but Germany, a prisoner of the demons of the past, is not ready to accept its rightful leadership in matters of security.

There is another factor supporting the European recession, namely that Europeans feel the threats differently. With a few rare exceptions: Italian intervention with France in Sahel stems from a desire to stop before Islamic extremism takes root and becomes a threat to all of us. Macron’s abrupt decision to withdraw the French military contingent from Mali raises doubts about the future of the mission. In general, there is no general risk assessment: in today’s European capitals, it is easy to gossip: Can a civil war in Tunisia threaten Italy? Let the Italians hurry. Be them. Since threats do not have a similar concept, often, the trend is: each for itself. Of course, in the Middle Ages, if an important European country got into trouble, the rest of Europe would suffer the consequences. But democracies are not interested in what will happen in the Middle Ages. Important only. On the contrary, is there an answer to the question of the West? We need to believe that it is still positive.