Mobile young people create the European labour market of tomorrow

Here´s a reference to my opinion piece featured in The European Sting.

Will we ever learn?

Our lives are short and I haven´t lived long enough to experience any drastic changes of the world we live in. The perhaps first dramatic historic event that I consciously experienced was 9/11. I remember watching the planes crash into the Twin Towers on TV. Back then, it felt like a rather distant event. I hadn´t seen much of the world nor did I understand that much of it. I have always considered the reaction of the U.S. counterproductive. Answering violence with violence felt wrong for me even back then. It could only cause more hatred and violence. 

Today, I have a much better understanding of the world. I have been to many different countries and met and lived with many different nationalities. It made me a strong believer of cultural dialogue, inclusion and peace. True, in many parts of the world xenophobia, nationalism and the resultant violence are still omnipresent. In Europe we had learnt, I believed. We had created a world where things could be solved without wars, I believed. This belief and this world are rapidly falling apart. The European project itself is in a precarious state. Greed and the subsequent economic excesses have damaged our economies and disillusioned substantial parts of our societies. Xenophobia and generally blaming things on outside factors instead of taking responsibility are on the rise. I still believed all this can be mended and we can emerge stronger from this crisis. 

Events in the Ukraine have changed all this. Whatever the shortcomings of Western policies, whatever the truth among so many lies and so much propaganda, whoever is to blame, fact is that imperialism and war have returned to Europe. It seems that the policy of inclusion and integration of our neighbours and more particularly Russia have simply failed. What is called soft power is perceived as weak by those who prefer to rule by force. I fear there will be less of Steinmeier and more of Kissinger again. I still believe in inclusion, intercultural dialogue and peaceful resolution of conflicts. I equally fear I have few arguments to counter those who ask for a stronger military again and to counter force with force. In fact, I started comprehending why the U.S. believes a policy of strength is the only way to secure peace. Not in the whole world, but at least in the Western world. As much as I want to believe that the people have changed from 80 years ago when Germans started following a calamitous ideology and an insane leader, I have to admit that this seems to be an increasingly naïve belief. Manipulation and propaganda work very much the same way as they did then and the consequences are much the same: violence, war and suffering. 

While it is somehow distant for many Europeans, the threat is real for the Baltics and other neighbouring countries. Soon we might understand that we are all Ukrainians. For me fighting for freedom has always had something contradictory. It still has, but maybe this is soon going to be our reality again. I am afraid the world will never learn. I am not afraid to be proven wrong; I indeed hope I will be.

European (non)-identity

I have been working a lot on European identity as a means to create a more integrated and successful Europe. It has become quite fashionable in this European policy environment to state one’s European identity and how European one feels. I left Germany more than six years ago, lived in four European countries for at least a year and have no immediate plans to return. I feel I could justify saying I am European as well. Somehow I have always been a bit reluctant to do so. Leaving and going abroad had much to do with developing as a person and questioning my background and identity. Replacing my old identity with a new, some might say better, and more sophisticated, European identity doesn’t make much sense to me. My goal has always been to live with less identification – may it be with concepts or with material things.

I still have to give some (personal) credit to the concept of European identity. Mainly because European identity is not a very strong concept of identity. It is hardly well-defined. I am always surprised when Americans say “oh this is so European”. What do they actually mean? Few people would go as far as defending themselves because they are from Europe. Most people do defend their national identities – some with great vigour. This is why European identity has always been appealing to me: It is quite loose, almost like not having an identity. A loose and not well-defined identity will, however, not work for many people. Identity is always about separation from others and if it is not clear how the separation works, it doesn’t serve too well as an identity.

Politicians, especially the populist ones, know very well how to use different identities to their advantage. It is us against them. The argument would even go that our modern nation states are not feasible without national identities. This is why creating a European identity has received increased attention. It seems quite obvious that we cannot build a properly working federal Europe without a widely accepted and felt European identity. As the world and its people are today, I have to agree. A united Europe is better than a fragmented one. We have come a long way to create peace and mutual understanding between formerly bitter enemies. We have still some way to go to achieve a completely integrated and federal Europe. If we ever succeed getting there, it would be sad if it was a merely identity driven process. Take the United States; they have a stronger national identity than many single European member states. Merely replacing one strong national identity with another one will not make the world a better place. It will just create new separation and new enemies. Creating a united Europe that moves beyond identity would be the real achievement for humanity. Sadly, this remains quite a utopian idea today.