- (january 2012)
Bye bye Europe.
A century ago all of the world except for the Americas and Japan was ruled by European powers. The 21st century, however, is likely to be the century when
Europe becomes a footnote to the history of the world; and I wouldn't be
surprised if this were the beginning of an Islamic-style decline into
utter poverty and backwardness (Islam used to rule most of the world and
be on top of every other nation in science and politics before it
declined to become the poorest region of the world in terms of science
and democracy).
Many internal causes for the sudden decline of Europe can be listed, from
overspending to paralyzed democracy, but one factor probably matters more
than any other: the USA.
It was the USA that was responsible for the decolonization of the world.
The USA saved Britain and France from Germany. At the end of World War II
As a former European colony itself, the USA demanded that the old colonial
powers grant independence to their colonies. Within a few decades the
independence of India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Arab countries and all of Africa
dramatically changed the future of the world. Not only did this drain the
flow of wealth from the colonies to Europe, but it was just a matter of time
before all these new countries would start competing with their old
colonial masters.
The second blow came from another victory by the USA: the USA won the Cold War
against the Soviet Union. First of all, this weakened yet another European
colonial power: Russia had consistently expanded its territory and its sphere
of influence since getting rid of the Mongols. The year 1991 marked the first
time in centuries that its territory shrank. Secondly, the collapse of the
communist system in the Soviet Union caused a chain reaction around the world,
as all communist systems except three switched to the capitalist system.
These countries became vibrant economies that joined the other developing
nations in challenging the supremacy of the old European powers. One of these
countries, China, went on to pass all the European powers and become the
world's second largest economy. India will soon pass its old colonial master
Britain. The end of the Cold War also prompted the USA to let its own
half-colonies in Latin America move towards democracy: the old corrupt and
incompetent dictators were kicked out of powers and much better regimes took
their places. That meant even more competition for old Europe.
In 2012 came the last fatal blow: the president of the USA, Barack Obama,
announced a new strategy that is notably a withdrawal from Europe. Europeans
have frequently marched in the streets to denounce the interference of the
USA into their affairs: they are now getting what they wanted. As the USA
withdraws from Europe, it will become evident even to the blindfolded youth
of Europe that Europe is a tiny continent surrounded by Islamic countries to the
south (some of which are growing faster than any European country) and by
resource-rich Russia to the east. The mighty German manufacturing monolith
may not be enough to save Europe from political extinction caused by the USA's
three-step weakening of Europe.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2011 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.
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