If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change
This is the most famous line from The Leopard, Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s 1958 novel for which this blog is named.
The book is set in 1860s Sicily during the unification of Italy. The protagonists, who live comfortable and privileged lives, struggle to cope as the world changes rapidly around them.
Our own times are no less tumultuous. For the past 80 years, Europeans have grown used to peace, prosperity and ever-greater energy consumption. Now everything is changing and we, like Lampedusa’s aristocrats, can only look on in bewilderment.
Europe needs ideas
Europe is still rich but the drivers of growth have gone. Our tech sector is anemic, our manufacturing propped up by protectionism. We lack strategic resources. Our social contract is fraying and we are in demographic decline.
Most of all, we are fragmented and unable to act at the continental scale. Power in Europe sits with national governments, each too small to move the needle on geopolitics. Despite open borders and a shared currency, Europeans have not developed a common political culture that would let us collectively punch our weight on the world stage.
In terms of wealth and human capital, Europe ought to be a global power alongside America, China and perhaps soon India. But without fresh ideas and the means to implement them, we are destined to watch from the sidelines as these other powers write the next chapter of human history.
A new perspective
The media carries its share of the blame. No European title has built a large cross-border audience, despite many young Europeans now speaking excellent English (and having access to machine translation). Some ‘global’ publications do reach a broader audience in Europe, but write with an Anglo-American lens that doesn’t generate the ideas Europe needs.
Pity the worldly European reader, who must choose between a narrow national angle or publications written for an American audience, whose interests and perspectives are not ours.
The Leopard is a very modest attempt to begin filling that gap. I’m a British-born journalist and editor who has been covering Europe from Brussels since 2017; before that I covered energy and security in the Middle East. In these pages I hope to offer a view of the world that is both far-sighted and distinctly European.
I read all comments and feedback, so please don’t hesitate to interact!
Transparency
The Leopard is a passion project with no current plans to monetise. The only commercial benefit I gain is by reaching potential clients for my freelance business, which focuses on writing opinion pieces for the news media (see bxlbureau.eu for details).
I do not use any form of AI in my writing. I may occasionally use an AI-generated image, in which case this will be noted at the end of the article.
Sam
