Rattling Europe’s gates
This is an excerpt from an editorial this week in the Guardian of London: There is a wide arc of conflict-ridden, repressive and failed states running from the Middle East, round the Horn of Africa and along the southern Mediterranean coast. There are tens of millions of people living in that region who might reasonably decide that the only future for them and their families lies in Europe. There is little sign that European leaders have even begun to engage with each other or with their electorates on the questions this raises for the security, legitimacy and stability of the European Union.
The complexity of the challenge almost invites paralysis. There is no obvious formula for intervention in broken states. There is no wholly satisfactory precedent for the deployment of western power in support of democracy.
While no perfect solutions present themselves, inertia punctuated with panic is the worst response. Since Syria’s plight is the most immediate moral and strategic problem, that is where Europe must begin the search for solutions. The rise in refugee numbers heading for the EU describes a collapse of hope among millions of Syrians that their home will be safe again.
To begin restoring that hope will inevitably mean international intervention of some kind. The establishment of credible safe havens and the implementation of a no-fly zone must be on the table for serious consideration. Russia, as the state with most influence over Bashar al-Assad, must somehow be convinced to rein him in. EU powers must be prepared to spend more of their efforts and resources fostering the conditions for ceasefire.
None of this is straightforward, nor will its impact be felt immediately. But the long years of European equivocation and denial have proved calamitous. The need for Europe to develop a coherent account of its place in the wider world has often been discussed as the goal once internal matters are settled, but that moment keeps being deferred. Yet the rest of the world is not waiting. Its fearful dispossessed are rattling Europe’s gates.