For centuries, Europe imagined itself to be the centre of the world — its order, politics and culture. Decolonisation, the emergence of the United States as the western world’s sole superpower, and the rise of the rest dramatically diminished the centuries old domination of the European states and their ability to shape the world in their own image. The contemporary international order is hardly Euro-centric: dominated by the U.S., and challenged by rising great powers or superpowers, it is moving toward a multipolar order wherein Europe’s system shaping capabilities have been rather limited. Or so it has been until now.
War and insecurity in Europe
The political and military aftermath of Russia’s war on Ukraine could potentially tilt the current global balance and take us back to a Euro-centric world order, albeit far less powerful and dominating than its earlier avatars. For sure, the U.S. continues to dominate the trans-Atlantic security landscape and this is likely to remain so. And yet, the new security consciousness in Europe will reduce Washington’s ability to continue as the fulcrum of the trans-Atlantic strategic imagination.
