Why is Europe still today a unique political and cultural ecosystem? On what does its geopolitical identity depend?

Over the centuries, Europe has managed to develop a rare combination of political pluralism, competition between states, legal tradition, social individualism and cultural universalism.

Its history is marked by a political and identity fragmentation that has generated unity and cooperation in conflict resolution: from the role of religion in society, to that of the individual vis-à-vis the state.

We must remember that the Old Continent unlike its historical rivals (Imperial China, the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia) underwent numerous hierarchical transformations after the Fall of the Western Roman Empire: it went through entire generations divided into kingdoms, city-states, principalities, republics or competing empires.

No geopolitical reality has been able to change so rapidly, surrounded by constant uncertainties, as the European phenomenon. Its unconscious aim has always been to face the coming political metamorphosis as a fundamental stage of evolution both nationally and internationally.

This convergence of pluralisms realised, according to Joseph Strayer and many scholars, one of the foundations of the modern state.

But what makes Europe different today?

Frequently accused of being slow, fragile or bureaucratic; but what other geopolitical area is capable of converting a system of sovereign states sharing some of their power into a heterogeneous union of common needs?

One of the main characteristics of the European variety is the vast linguistic coexistence within the same political and institutional space: there is no linguistic uniformity.

Language is a historical identity that does not prevent a Polish citizen from understanding the democratic sensibilities and ideals of an Italian. The values of freedom and cohabitation that have built European reality continue to communicate with each other, regardless of the levels of internal crisis that any political ecosystem is sooner or later forced to face.

This European multilingualism does not conceal the Old Continent’s age-old fear of risking domination: language protection is an indirect statement of maintaining international equilibrium.

Another factor of unparalleled distinction is the concept of welfare that makes Europe concretely different, because it makes social protection and health, education and work tangible components of democratic citizenship. The European state has consistently prevented anyone from completely collapsing: economic problems? Don’t worry you can go to hospital without risk of economic ruin.

You will not find the same health coverage in the US or South Korea, not surprisingly they share mutual socio-economic influences.

If there is one lesson that Europe has learnt since the Second World War, it is that extreme poverty and social insecurity can destabilise not only society, but the values of democracy, an ideal that holds firm despite the current internal fractures.

As we said earlier , Europe has avoided absolute centralisation, typical of e.g. the Chinese or Russian political system, with the expression of unparalleled pluralism; both Asian powers have consistently sought confirmation in centralised stability. A structure that does not allow constructive competition between different powers to breathe. The result? China and Russia remain impenetrable authoritarian regimes incompatible with change through fragmentation and the possibility of difference through social doubt.

Contemporary Europe is one of the most stable, wealthy and democratic areas in the world, but it is also criss-crossed by numerous contrasts of integration and national sovereignty.

The Brexit was the most obvious manifestation of this tension: is the European Union a symbol of protection and cooperation or a distant technocracy mimicking national sovereignty? Hence the well-known conflict between Europeanism and sovereignism.

These latter issues are in turn intertwined with the need to recognise whether migratory flows are necessary to counter demographic decline, or risk excessively destabilising national identity and urban security.

We must remember that these questions only exist when a democracy is functioning; freedom allows doubt to exist and create opportunities for the next stage of evolution.