'Lonely Europe'

Pursuing a positive, strategic coexistence with China will enable it to avoid becoming isolated

If we had to describe in one word the geopolitical identity of today's Europe, that word would probably be "loneliness". For the first time in its history, Europe is in danger of becoming an isolated and vulnerable enclave in a rapidly changing world. This "Lonely Europe "is also a small Europe compared to the past. The Ukraine crisis has created a tremendous divide between Russia and Western Europe, unprecedented in history. For the first time, there is a perception in the collective consciousness of European societies that "Europe" is one thing and Russia is another. In other words, Russia is cut off from the rest of Europe in the consciousness of the European people and turns into a different historical, cultural and geopolitical scheme, which has never existed before. Even in the bipolar system of the Cold War, Soviet Russia was considered an integral part of Europe in a geographical, historical, ethno-racial and cultural sense.

At the same time, the Ukraine crisis has seemingly strengthened relations between the United States and Western Europe. However, at a deeper level, the EU-US relations are also going through a period of crisis. Large parts of European societies suspect that the absolute identification with Ukraine and the continued, but fruitless, support for it in its conflict with Russia that is causing considerable problems for the economies of Western European countries, have been imposed by Washington in order to serve narrow US interests. These views are reinforced by the changes in the geography of energy that have emerged in the Euro-Atlantic world in recent years. In particular, the discovery of large shale hydrocarbon deposits on US soil has made the country a major energy producer competing with Russia to supply Europe's energy. Thus, for some parts of European societies, the US is maintaining its acute rivalry with Russia through the conflict with Ukraine, in order to keep Europe under its thumb, at the same time to sell European countries expensive US hydrocarbons, causing serious problems for European countries.

So today, for the first time in its history, Europe is cut off from Russia, while at the same time suspicion of the US has increased. Concurrently, Africa and the Middle East are also perceived as threats to European peoples, mainly because of the massive influx of populations from these regions into European countries. This fact has rapidly altered the ethnic and cultural identity of European societies and created serious security problems.

All this is happening at a time when the process of European integration has reached an impasse and is locked in a dangerously incomplete state. On the one hand, the collective institutions of the European Union, especially the European Commission, are able to impose destructive policies on its member countries, as was seen in the case of the disastrous economic policies imposed on Greece a few years ago. On the other hand, however, they do not have the ability to defend the vital geopolitical interests of either the European Union as a whole or its member countries.

As a result, European peoples are increasingly turning to "identity-centric" political parties that are against mass illegal immigration, against total identification with Washington's policies and Brussels' dominance over national governments and which are in favor of strengthening national identities and nationally independent policies, as well as the development of more multidimensional polities within a multipolar world. They are parties that support more nation-centric but also more open and flexible policies that will allow European economies to strengthen their position and also prevent European foreign policy from slipping into a dangerous path toward conflict with Russia or with other countries, such as Iran.

This "Lonely Europe" needs a healthy, synergistic and creative relationship with present and future China. The geopolitical identities of Europe and China have many complementary and cooperative elements. Among other things, Europe needs China to avoid a dangerous isolation of Russia, which could lead Moscow to high risk brinkmanship policies so as not to get trapped in a geopolitical death spiral. A productive win-win relationship between Europe and China will prevent the danger of humanity slipping into a new and highly dangerous Cold War bipolarity with the Euro-Atlantic West facing a Eurasian gathering of states and will reduce the influence of fundamentalist neo-Cold War voices in the US. Also, the European economy needs the Chinese market, as China also needs the European market, while European tourism can receive a significant boost from the Chinese market, especially in the long term. Finally, there is the underrated issue of cultural cooperation. To avoid being locked in a war of civilizations that will be part of a new Cold War within a new bipolar system, European civilization must seek a creative interactive relationship with Chinese civilization. In this effort, the contribution of Greece, as the generator of European culture, can and should be important.

In conclusion, today's Europe is experiencing a serious existential crisis and an unprecedented geopolitical loneliness, which may lead to dangerous situations in the future. But its potential remains enormous. An expanded, positive, strategic coexistence with China will allow it to adapt to the emerging international system and avoid pitfalls in its geopolitical path.

The author is a professor of geopolitics and the director of the War Theory and Analysis Sector at the Hellenic Military Academy in Greece. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn