May 05, 2017
The Necessary Empire
Elections in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year have brought much drama to the old Carolingian core, where Charlemagne founded his empire in the ninth century. This has always been the richest and most strongly institutionalized part of Europe. But should the European Union continue to weaken, the most profound repercussions will be felt farther east and south.
There, along the fault line of the Austrian Hapsburg and Ottoman Turkish empires, former Communist countries lack the sturdy middle-class base of core Europe, and in many cases are still distracted by ethnic and territorial disputes 25 years after the siege of Sarajevo. They depend on pro-European Union governments as never before.
Here in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, a country squeezed between Central Europe and the Balkans, officials and experts talk about a so-called phantom frontier that still exercises people’s imagination. This is the “Antemurale Christianitatis,” the “Bulwark of Christianity,” proclaimed in 1519 by Pope Leo X, in a reference to the Roman Catholic Slavs considered the front line against the Ottoman Empire. Croatia was the first line of defense against the Muslim Sultanate, and Slovenia the second. “When Yugoslavia collapsed, it was assumed that none of this earlier history was important,” one official said to me recently. “But a quarter-century after the disintegration of Tito’s Yugoslavia, we find that we are back to late-medieval and early-modern history.”
Read the full article in The New York Times.
More from CNAS
-
Developing the European Defense Industry
Podcast
Since the war in Ukraine began, the European Union has provided substantial military support to Kyiv. Yet years of underinvestment and a lack of coordination mean that Europe’...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
The President's Inbox: Axis of Autocracies Challenge, With Jennifer Kavanagh & Andrea Kendall-Taylor
Podcast
Andrea Kendall-Taylor, senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, joins The President's Inbox to discuss the n...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
Russia and the Rise of BRICS
Podcast
This past Tuesday, Russia hosted a high-profile summit of the BRICS group in Kazan, Russia, demonstrating its growing determination to challenge the Western-led international ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Kate Johnston
-
What Might We Expect in Foreign Policy During a Second Trump Term?
Podcast
As the 2024 presidential elections draw nearer, it’s becoming increasingly urgent to understand the potential implications for U.S. foreign policy. This week, Brussels Sprouts...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Kate Johnston
