28 July 2011 - idealpolitik

Machiavelli, erstwhile champion of realpolitik, has drifted out of fashion in Europe. Today the watchword is idealpolitik, a cutthroat ideology that leaves poor Niccolo in the drying blood of history. Today’s policy is to decree as fact whatever blue-sky hope the political elite can agree on, the less achievable the better, and leave it to the future to address any discrepancies: “Hello, discrepancy!” Admirable, no? There’s no surer way to face the uncertainties of the 21st Century, and all the Europeans have to do is survive it.