IS EUROPE FAILING BECAUSE OF AN AGENDA?

In a recent Daily Signal podcast, Victor Davis Hanson—one of the most practical-minded intellectuals in the United States and, surely, of our time—offered a compelling explanation for Europe's growing economic and geopolitical problems. The following is a paraphrase of the main ideas presented in his discussion rather than a verbatim transcript.

Hanson argues that Europe's difficulties are not the product of bad luck or external threats, but of a political agenda that has weakened the continent's own strengths.

Despite its highly educated population, rich civilisational heritage, and vast economic potential, Europe has steadily lost competitiveness and global influence. Hanson contends that this decline reflects political choices rather than a lack of talent.

He points to the replacement of reliable energy with costly green policies, a redistributive economic model that discourages entrepreneurship, open-border immigration policies, chronic underinvestment in defence, and dependence on Russian energy as key drivers of Europe's stagnation.

According to Hanson, many European leaders increasingly recognise that these policies have failed. Looking at the United States, they see stronger economic growth, renewed energy production, and greater industrial dynamism. Europe's frustration, he argues, stems not simply from America's success, but from the realisation that much of its own decline is self-inflicted.

His conclusion is that the United States should encourage, not dominate, Europe. A more competitive, secure, and confident Europe would strengthen the entire Western alliance—but only if it is willing to rethink the policies that have undermined its prosperity.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Europe remains one of the world's richest, most educated, and most technologically capable regions. The debate is therefore not about Europe's potential, but about whether its current policy direction allows that potential to be realised. Hanson's analysis suggests that the West's balance of power in the coming decades may depend as much on Europe's willingness to reform its own agenda as on its ability to respond to external threats.

Source: The Daily Signal, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQLvcHkJY5Q&t=7s