Not Just Defense: the Power of Culture for Europe’s Future

Three decades after the Maastricht Treaty, the world is departing from the post-Cold War liberal internationalism that paved the way for the foundation of the EU. The US-led liberal order is fractured, globalisation driven by free trade and markets contested, neoliberalism has weakened democracy and fuelled inequalities, and war in Ukraine threatens the principles of national sovereignty and international law. Meanwhile, the AI revolution and the climate emergency are reshaping the future of humanity. In this essay, I argue that the humanities can provide us with the intellectual and cultural resources needed to develop an alternative planetary politics and reimagine Europe in a post-imperial and cosmopolitan context.