The consequences for Europe of the global crisis
by Rob de Wijk
The geopolitical power shift towards Asia that has been such a feature of recent years is going to be accelerated by the worldwide economic crisis, warns Rob de Wijk. He calls for greater honesty among Europes political leaders about the consequences for EU countries of the new multi-polarity.
How will future historians look back at this opening decade of the 21st century? Most likely they will see it as a turning point in geopolitics. Although it is still too soon to predict whether the current economic crisis is to be an updated version of the Great Depression of the 1930s, it is safe to assume that it will accelerate a number of trends. Because it is a systemic crisis it will have profound consequences for the distribution of power in the world, as well as for the European Union and the security of its member states. The financial crisis is also likely to increase the effects of two other looming systemic problems,
the climate change crisis and that of global resources.
from: Europe’s World, 10/14/09
