If it were possible to capture the fluctuations imposed on the international system by political and economic events, the observer would conclude that we have been in a state of continuous escalation of pivotal events since January 2020, when the pandemic began. Three and a half years later, the tension takes on new forms, and each new tension connects with all the previous ones. The war in Ukraine creates an increase in the cost of energy, which leads to high inflation, which creates an exorbitant increase in the fixed costs of the average family around the world, which leads to a significant decrease in the standard of living of the average Western family, which creates high social tensions inside the western pole with a prominent Europe. If we add to this dystopian chain reaction the dysfunction of the traditional banking sector, a development that once again targets the average Western family, it becomes clear that we are in a quagmire.

The West is again in another famous dental mesolayer. This is the time when she must decide where she is going, just as she must decide what she will take with her from the past and what she will leave behind. As a political scientist, I could say that the Social Contract that underlies the Western world is degenerating, but deep down I always think about Magna Carta and the fate of those who believed in the golden bull of John the Baptist.

The US is still hesitant in the face of the systemic upheavals that the Trump period has created in institutions and society, the Q’anon movement and the Capitol invasion attempt have yet to be explored in the depth their toxicity dictates, while Europe seems hesitant to undertake those initiatives that will make it clear to the union project whether it will even out, or whether it will follow the path of socio-political futility of maturing it into non-existence. And while the process of internal deconstruction permeates the Western world from one end to the other, a new pole is being built on the opposite side, the union of authoritarianism as a common ideological and practical component.

In contrast to the eschatological scenarios of the total end of the Western world, I argue that we are still in a favorable position to react in a coordinated manner. Our state, a liberal democracy, is the best model of organization that has been used since time immemorial. This allows for flexibility while still taking into account the collective will and individual positioning. The free economy is the most dynamic model for the production of primary wealth. This is confirmed by the fact that the opposite side also uses the methods of a free economy, adding to this the authoritarian dimension of the distribution of wealth. At the same time, the soft power of the Western world is today the dominant narrative even in the most remote corners of the planet or in the hardened cores of global authoritarianism. Finally, as the Western world, we have the most complete and perfect model of hard power organization, NATO, and the defense industry is also the most technologically complete.

So why are we dealing with all these dystopian avalanche problems that are coming our way? The answer lies in the fact that there is a structural problem at the junctions of the Union of the Western world, mainly due to the weakening of the process of building the transatlantic. We are behind in this part because we had to fight the spread of COVID-19 alone, but there is no time for further delays. Recent events surrounding the Chinese President’s visit to Moscow reveal gaps that could be filled if the Western world decides to see itself again as a reflection of the Enlightenment and incorporate the principles of humanism, harmony and rationality into the socio-political transatlantic model. organizations. Here is a brilliant political field of glory!

* Mr. Spiros N. Litsas is Professor of International Relations Theory at the University of Macedonia.