JAKUB GRYGIEL

As European history makes painfully clear, a return to aggressive nationalism could be dangerous, not just for the continent but also for the world.

The EU aspired to transcend nation-states, but its fatal flaw has been its consistent failure to recognize the persistence of national differences and the importance of addressing threats on its frontiers. One consequence of this oversight has been the rise of political parties that aim to restore national autonomy, often by appealing to far-right, populist, and sometimes xenophobic sentiments

The EU suffers from … a structural democratic deficit. Of its seven institutions, just one—the European Parliament—is directly elected by the people, and it cannot initiate legislation.

People are far more willing to fight for their country—for their history, their soil, their common religious identity—than they are for an abstract political body created by fiat [as with the EU].

As European history makes painfully clear, a return to aggressive nationalism could be dangerous, not just for the continent but also for the world.

The EU aspired to transcend nation-states, but its fatal flaw has been its consistent failure to recognize the persistence of national differences and the importance of addressing threats on its frontiers. One consequence of this oversight has been the rise of political parties that aim to restore national autonomy, often by appealing to far-right, populist, and sometimes xenophobic sentiments

The EU suffers from … a structural democratic deficit. Of its seven institutions, just one—the European Parliament—is directly elected by the people, and it cannot initiate legislation.

People are far more willing to fight for their country—for their history, their soil, their common religious identity—than they are for an abstract political body created by fiat [as with the EU].