Europe Through The Centuries

Europe has always been a hotbed of conflict, opportunity and new ideas in history.

Feudal age saw the conflict within Christianity itself, amongst Catholics, Orthodoxy and Protestants and involving royalty, the military and Machiavellian politicians.

After that, the rise of the Ottoman Empire threatened Christian Europe with territorial and cultural conquests - but this interface also brought new learning and influences in science and mathematics from the Arabs and Persians to the continent.

Discovery of the compass and how to harness winds for long distance sailing offered several European powers the opportunity to enhance trade, discover cultures not hitherto known to them and exploit the economies of other lands through colonisation.

The relatively stronger technology, military capability and political strategies of these European colonials made them eventually control and subjugate other populations, except in old Siam.

The negatives and positives of European rule is etched across the globe from Africa, India, The Americas, Oceania, south east Asia and East Asia.

There was no such thing like today's political correctness in the period from the 16th to the early 20th centuries, when the advent of economic competition and the spread of missionary religion from Europe were first imperatives. There was an urgent race to "discover" non- European lands for resource exploitation and strategic ports.

In the process, various Euro languages, cultural practices and DNA were disseminated throughout the colonies in what was an Euro carve up of the world at large.

It can be strange to reflect now that the descendants of colonial powers take an overwhelming approach in the 21st century, being careful not to discriminate on various fronts like disability age, gender, race and religion. Is this a new age of enlightenment with liberal democracy?

A diverse variety of migrants coming to settle in Western societies in the past 50 years appreciate enjoying the relative freedoms and high level of human rights experienced in their new countries of adoption.

Questions do arise if some groups of migrants do exploit such liberal options for their own purposes in these Western countries. Is it better for migrants to integrate with the mainstream, or do we encourage such migrants, many from former colonies, to strike out their different way of life arising from their source cultures?

This matter can come to a head when globalisation forces in trade, finance and economics displace the jobs in the heartland and disenfranchise mainstream Caucasians of their past lifestyle and standard of living.

So in reaction, populist governments have taken control in Europe and the USA, changing past assumptions of the political landscape for the future.

Is this anything new, or is the world going through a recycling from royalty and dictatorships to liberal democracy to manipulated electoral systems and hardened right wing conservatism?

Political governance can always be an evolving matter as it cannot remain static. Like evolution according to Nature's laws, politics and social interaction must make society viable enough to be sustained and to grow.

The house has to be rebuilt, gradually or with a sudden change.

The so called Old World of Europe must continue to reinvigorate itself on all fronts.