Editor-in-Chief Atul Singh (the Rajput) and retired CIA Officer Glenn Carle (the WASP) discuss whether Europe, led by Germany and France, can regain its former greatness. Together, they trace the continent’s rise, decline and uncertain future. Their conversation blends politics, economics, philosophy, history and geopolitics, reminding listeners that the European story is as much about ideas and values as about armies or alliances.
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Amazon MusicThe rise of Europe
Atul and Glenn note that for five centuries, Europe was the unrivaled center of global progress — the proverbial “cock of the walk.” The Renaissance and Reformation created a civilization of reason, doubt and individualism, launching an age of discovery and dynamism. From Portuguese explorer Henry the Navigator’s voyages to Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’s new universe, Dutch anatomist Andreas Vesalius’s new body, Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci’s new man and German theologian Martin Luther’s new Christianity, Europe redefined humanity and remade the world.
Like India, China and Egypt earlier, Europe achieved greatness that included both spectacular achievements and much suffering. Europe gave birth to individualism, inquiry and innovation, leading to the Industrial Revolution and a modern scientific worldview.
European decline
The great changes in Europe also unleashed nationalism and conflict. Martin Luther’s 95 theses in 1517 led to the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48) that caused the death of 25–40% of the population of modern-day Germany. The French Revolution led to the Napoleonic Wars. In the 20th century, Europe self-destructed thanks to the “tragedy of World War I” and the “suicide of World War II”.
By 1945, the US produced half of global output and emerged as the global top dog. NATO’s design — to keep “the Americans in, the Russians out and the Germans down” — locked Europe into dependency. Decolonization and the Soviet shadow eroded its confidence, even as prosperity rose under the new European welfare state. Living standards for the people rose higher than ever before, even as Europe shrank on the global stage. Glenn calls this a tragedy of success: The same civilization that had given the world humanism and science became exhausted by its own wars and moral contradictions.
Restoration through union
Europe began rebuilding through integration. The European Coal and Steel Community of 1951 evolved into the European Economic Community, the customs union and later the Maastricht Treaty, uniting former enemies in shared management of resources. French visionaries Jean Monnet and Jacques Delors imagined prosperity through cooperation. The single market, the euro and post-1991 enlargement turned ruin into renewal. Without integration, you do not have the prosperity you see in Europe today. The European experiment, though bureaucratic and incomplete, revived Europe’s material strength and moral confidence.
Despite the great benefits of the EU, there are downsides too. The EU remains constrained by unanimity rules and overregulation, a “democratic deficit” that saps vitality. Italian economist Mario Draghi’s 2024 report on competitiveness diagnoses the same malaise: strong economics but weak executive power. Europe’s structure is too bureaucratic to act decisively on defense, industry or migration.
Glenn warns that economic and political competence has not been matched by strategic capacity, leaving the continent vulnerable to shocks from Russia, China and an increasingly unreliable US. Atul argues that the very success of the welfare state and regulatory culture has bred complacency, creating a paradox where prosperity dulls ambition and consensus replaces vision.
Can Germany and France make Europe great again?
Two competing models define Europe’s future. France’s vision seeks “strategic autonomy,” a federal Europe with its own military and industrial backbone. Meanwhile, Germany’s approach favors a confederation of sovereign states and continued reliance on Washington. Both nations, however, face internal strains: In Germany, over 20% of residents are foreign-born and this has led to the growing popularity of the far-right Alternative for Germany, which is now polling higher than the ruling coalition. Germany’s now diverse society lacks the cohesion of yore. For example, the Turkish immigrant population often sympathizes with those in Gaza over those in Ukraine. France has similar problems and is struggling to pass a budget even as prime ministers come and go.
Germany and France now struggle to maintain internal cohesion, a weakness mirrored across Europe. With a strong memory of Nazi rule, Germans are nervous about the zeitgeist in the US. US President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have addressed generals, raising alarm. Fears of a deal between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have spooked Berlin, reminding Germans of their vulnerability. As the transatlantic bond frays, Europe will either learn to stand alone or risk marginalization in a world defined by American retrenchment and Chinese power.
Europe divided, can it stay united?
Atul argues that demography and debt compound all the above tensions in Europe. An aging, indebted continent faces a sovereign debt crisis. Immigration is inflaming passions across the continent as well. On the one hand, the far-right is on the rise. On the other hand, many minorities are turning to radical or political Islam. This loss of internal cohesion is dangerous not only for democracy but for the future of European societies.
When large numbers of migrants come to any society, it is difficult to absorb them without friction.
or absorb immigration without friction. Integration succeeds economically but strains culturally; assimilation and the secular Westphalian model — by which a state is sovereign and has exclusive control over its territory and internal affairs — are under pressure. These divisions fuel nationalism and erode the solidarity the EU depends upon. Glenn remarks that immigration is Europe’s moral and political crucible — the test of whether Enlightenment values can survive contact with 21st century realities.
History, Glenn argues, shows that only crisis brings renewal. From the Reformation to the world wars, upheaval has forced transformation. Today’s dangers — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a possible US retreat and China’s rise — may again provoke change. Glenn cites French economist Thomas Piketty’s examples — world wars, depressions and revolutions — as proof that great crises can produce renewal. A new European order might emerge through shared defense and decisive governance, or it could collapse into paralysis.
Glenn states that if Europe fails to act, it risks becoming a museum of its past rather than a maker of the future. As Atul concludes, Europe’s challenge is not the absence of talent or history but the will to cohere: “It can be done. Perhaps this time, it will be done.”
[Lee Thompson-Kolar edited this piece.]
The views expressed in this article/podcast are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.
The post The Dialectic: Can Germany and France Make Europe Great Again? appeared first on Fair Observer.
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