Europeans Don’t Know Who They Are (Anymore)
For over thirty years, Europeans had the sweetest of dreams.
With the fall of the Soviet Union, there was nothing to challenge the status quo of Western dominance over the world. European leaders were happy to be part of the VIP club under the direct command of the only ruling master: Uncle Sam.
For the first time in 10,000 years of human civilization, a single global power was able to shape the whole world in its own image.
The dream of being the center of the global economy,
the center of culture and morality.
The center of military might and financial power.
All of this at the service of the whole world,
for the sake of bringing peace and justice to everyone.
But of course, this was just a lie.
A lie so powerful that even now, in 2025—despite tons of historical evidence and world-changing events unfolding in real time—many are still happy to believe in.
Why is that?
European people possess something unique that cannot be found anywhere else: a well-hidden, deep-rooted sense of superiority.
As Professor Alessandro Orsini often explains in his books1, this sense of superiority can be traced back to the colonial age, when the European man fooled himself into believing that his holy mission was to bring Western civilization to the “savages.”
Even after the end of the colonial era—and the publicly denounced injustices that Indigenous people suffered under Western rule—in European schools, universities, and political institutions, we can still see, hear, and feel the extremely Eurocentric view on any type of international issue.2
- There is no war if it is not in Europe.
- There is no crisis if it is not in Europe.
- There is no civilization if it is not in Europe.
It doesn’t matter if European leaders use carefully measured rhetoric to present a benevolent and modest image of Europe to the rest of the world. This is just a façade that no one believes anymore.
Except Europeans, of course.
The whole world saw when NATO started the first war in Europe since the end of WW2 by bombing Belgrade for 78 days in 1999. This bombing was illegal under international law.3
The whole world saw when George W. Bush and Western countries formed the “coalition of the willing” in 2003 for the invasion of Iraq that killed 600,000 civilians.4 This war was illegal under international law.5
The whole world saw when NATO bombed Libya in 2011 to overthrow its leader, causing a second civil war and forcing millions of civilians to flee the region. This war was illegal under international law.6 7
Based on recent estimates from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the total number of deaths in wars led by Western countries in the Middle East amounted to 4.5 million.8
4.5 million people. Killed.
The whole world saw what Western Civilization 2.0 really meant—
but Europeans kept dreaming.
However, the effect of the Russia–Ukraine war is forcing many Europeans to reevaluate the political relevance of European leadership in the world.
Not only that, but:
- An economic recession unlike any seen before9
- The military weakness of NATO infrastructure, exposed on the battlefield10
These are facts too big to ignore.
“If we are no longer the richest, most influential people on this Earth, then who are we?
If we no longer have military leadership—fearing no one and feared by everyone like in the past—then how can we live?”
That last, small sense of moral superiority that Europeans may have clung to has been completely shattered by recent events in Palestine, which show the political and military involvement of European countries in one of the worst atrocities against civilians of the 21st century.11 12
The truth is too bright to be seen—especially for those who have lived their entire lives with their eyes closed.
That’s why I urge all my fellow European citizens who cannot stand the truth:
Keep your eyes closed.
Relax.
And sleep—
until humanity heals
and becomes uninterested in your utter insignificance.
CP
- 1 – Alessandro Orsini. Ucraina Palestina – Il terrorismo di stato nelle relazioni internazionali. Paper First, 2024.
- 2 – Birthe Paul. Eurocentrism – A Hidden, but Hot Topic. Politikon: The IAPSS Journal of Political Science, 2006.
- 3 – United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Final Report to the Prosecutor by the Committee Established to Review the NATO Bombing Campaign Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 4 – Burnham, Gilbert; Lafta, Riyadh; Doocy, Shannon; Roberts. Mortality after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: a cross-sectional cluster sample survey. The Lancet, 2006.
- 5 – The Guardian. Iraq war was illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan, 2004.
- 6 – Geir Ulfstein, Hege Christiansen. The Legality of the NATO Bombing in Libya. Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, 2013.
- 7 – Stop the War Coalition. UN’s Top Man on the Ground in Libya Says NATO Bombing ‘Exceeded UN Mandate’, 2022.
- 8 – Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. How Death Outlives War, 2023.
- 9 – CNBC. Get your house in order, Europe — or face ‘ongoing decline,’ economists warn, 2025.
- 10 – Al Jazeera. Russia races ahead of NATO in weapons production for Ukraine war: SIPRI, 2024.
- 11 – Mondoweiss. The genocide in Gaza is one of the worst in modern history, 2023.
- 12 – The Guardian. What atrocity would Israel have to commit for our leaders to break their silence?, 2024.
Article first published on https://carloperoni.substack.com/p/europeans-dont-know-who-they-are