Chomsky: Europe towards decline

Europe will likely face decline and deindustrialization if it chooses to stay within the US-dominated system noted US academic and philosopher Noam Chomsky told Sputnik.

"Europe faces an important decision: Will it stay within the US-dominated system, facing likely decline and even, according to some, deindustrialization?" Chomsky said. "Or will it somehow adapt to its natural economic partner in the East, rich in mineral resources that Europe needs and gateway to the lucrative Chinese market?".

Chomsky noted that these questions have arisen in one form or another since World War II. "The Gaullist concept of Europe tying itself to Russia as an independent force in world affairs was echoed in Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik and other initiatives, and more generally in Gorbachev's proposals after the collapse of the Soviet Union," he said. said.

When asked if he thinks we are on the threshold of a new world order and if the Ukrainian conflict can be a catalyst for major changes, Chomsky said: "There is a lot of controversy over the shape of the emerging world system."

Chomsky explained that the basic alternatives are a UN-based multipolar system or a "rules-based" unipolar system, in which the United States establishes them and then, as the data reveal, itself is the first to ignore them when it's convenient.

"The first version is widely held by most of the world. The second is adopted by the Anglosphere, Europe, Japan and a few others," Chomsky added, noting that Russia's special military operation "has provided the United States a very welcome gift, thrusting Europe into Washington's pocket and thus reinforcing its call for a unipolar 'rules-based' order."

"There are a lot of uncertainties about how these tensions will be resolved," he said.The renowned US academic and philosopher also told Sputnik that he hopes Europe will move towards former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's 'From Lisbon to Vladivostok' vision before the situation worsens.

The United States has chosen to pursue the Atlanticist, NATO-based option that was recently extended to the Indo-Pacific region in a Washington-led effort to enlist Europe in confrontation with China, Chomsky said.