I wanted to take note of a single sentence in Walter Russell Mead’s latest Wall Street Journal column:
The alleged Russian sabotage attempt on Germany’s Leipzig/Halle airport failed to trigger a rush of Euro-patriotism.
because it reflects a widespread misconception.
There has never been “Euro-patriotism”. There have been France, Germany, Italy, etc. pursuing their own parochial interests. France has pursued subsidies for French farmers. Germany has pursued the profits of German banks and manufacturers. Other less developed economies e.g. Greece have pursued the increased consumption that unlimited borrowing enabled. And so on.
There has never been “Euro-patriotism” and I see little reason to expect it to emerge now that establishment political parties are fighting for their political lives against “far right-wing” upstarts. Don’t infer European solidarity from coincident national interests. European unity exists when countries continue acting together after their national interests diverge and doing so becomes costly.
