Senator Marcello Pera examines remedies for addressing the cultural challenges confronting Europe.
Why does Europe appear to be in a sort of a political continental drift with respect to America? Perhaps because Europe is challenged by a triple crisis: economic, political, and cultural. Economically, Europe is becoming less competitive on the world scene due to its state-centered ideology. Politically, the European Union represents an inextricable web of bureaucracy that not only confounds the average European citizen but lawmakers as well. And, culturally, Europe is affected by relativism and secularism, which separate its society and culture from its historic roots as it becomes increasingly de-Christianized.
In short, Europe is in the midst of a moral and spiritual identity crisis. Europe today does not appreciate America, especially American foreign policy, because it no longer understands it. From the European standpoint, American idealism and an appeal to religious convictions is a fundamentalism as wrong and as dangerous as any other. Although Europe and America share the same history, the current European continental drift is more risky for Europe than for America- The Heritage Foundation
Bio
Dr. Ariel Cohen
Ariel Cohen's area of study ranges from economic development and political reform in the former Soviet republics to U.S. energy security, the global war on terror and the continuing conflict in the Middle East. As a native of Yalta on the shores of the Black Sea, Cohen brings first-hand knowledge to his studies of the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.
Cohen also lived in Israel for eleven years, earning his law degree at Bar Ilan University Law School in Tel Aviv and working as a foreign policy journalist.
Marcello Pera
An Italian liberal philosopher and politician, linked with the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) and the Radical Party, before being elected Senator for Forza Italia in the general elections of 1994.
Re-elected in the 1996 and 2001, he has been a President of the Italian Senate up until 2006.