Question

What are the biggest sources of divisions in European politics? What is the influence of the Refugee Crisis on European stability? What influence is nationalism having on the European Union?

Answer 1

                        European politics is a continually evolving one. The political division formulae keep on changing there. The political behaviour of any Nation is an outcome of its geographical, economic and cultural factors and the political history of Europe is no exception to it. Since the fall of Iron curtain and the collapse of Eastern Bloc of communist states and especially after the end of cold war, there has been divergent factors which have influenced the political map of Europe. Today, European politics is more than just the east-west politics which forms a duel between the virtuous and liberal open-minded people in the west and the benighted, undemocratic reactionaries in the east. The concept is more complicated than the cold war era. Almost 30 years after the end of communism, the myth of a binary Europe stubbornly refuses to die. The recent drift of Hungary, Poland and Romania from the democratic norms and the rule of law together with quarrels over refugee and migrant politics have shaped the European political map of today. The conservatives of the east mostly back the religious identity whereas the multiculturists of the west hardly see them as a factor for their division. With the rising events like Brexit, it is clear that the European pollical divide has travelled far from the old east-west politics of the cold war era and has now reached a stage where each nation and its democratic principles are shaping the political map of Europe, which of course is changing on a day to day scale.

The Refugee Crisis and Europe

                                    The European refuge crisis, which refers to an unprecedent flow of refugees from the middle east towards Europe in the past few years has had strong influences in Europe. The wave started with the Arab spring that occurred in 2010. The trigger later led to the overthrowal of power in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya and led to bloody civil wars in places like Syria. The Syrian refugees which lost their neighbourhood began to move towards the Europe via the Mediterranean sea by 2015. It has remained the major route either it be from Morocco to Spain, from Northern Africa to Italy or from Turkey to Greece. It is believed that more than 1.3 million refugees passed over the Mediterranean sea during 2015-16 period. The major influence of these refugee movements have been on changing the immigrant policies of many European nations. In another words, these migrant crisis later paved the way for identity and legal crisis in the European Union as a whole. Apart from these, several human right issues also sprang up which led to an overall crisis situation in Europe.

Nationalism and the European Union

                                    The rise of Nationalism initiated in the Europe with the Spring of Nations in 1848. The concept was further expanded by the Napoleon and the French revolutions. It can be said that countries like Germany and Italy were shaped out by uniting various regional states with a common identity which can be regarded as the first form of arising nationalism in the European union. The questioning of monarch was the first for of the nationalism which sprang in Europe. The ideas of liberty, equality, fraternity, liberalism and non self-determinism were shaped out of similar movements which is having a great influence even today not only in the Europe but also all over the world. The intellectual reactions to Enlightenments and the role played by many philosophers also had long standing impacts in the European Union. Since Nationalism always follows a blind path of loving ones’ nation, it has proved to cause more harm to the nation than success. The effect of communism and the cold war politics, the rise and fall of the ottoman empire are all examples of the same. In the 21st century politics, after the introduction of Globalisation and the fall of Berlin wall, the world has become a single market and the borders have been virtually shattered. But even today, the concept of nationalism has not fallen. The events like Brexit proves the same. The 21st century political events have been based on nationalism as a concept and hence has resulted in events like overthrowal of powers, threat to democratic unions and thereby causing threat to the world as a whole. Thus Nationalism has impacts on each nation even today and European Union in particular