American.com: The Birth of The New “Europeans” — by David Dabscheck

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The Birth of The New “Europeans” — by David Dabscheck

Americans have long been dismissive of a concerted European identity, probably best captured by Kissinger’s biting comment, “Who do I call if I want to call Europe?” Of course the recent “No” votes on a European constitution only reinforced the view that the EU is little more than a collection of (weakly) united economies. The prospect that the bickering states of the Old World would ever be able to forge a “United States of Europe,” despite George Washington himself believing that it would one day be so, was seen as unfeasible if not downright fanciful.

The incessant focus on political and economic factors overlooks the slower moving—but much more powerful—forces of culture and identity.

Identity is more than legislation, but institutional changes since 1992 are quickly, although quietly, facilitating the emergence of Generation E, young people who are comfortable working across the EU, identify themselves as European, and believe that there are European values—often in contrast to perceived American ones. As an inherently social construct, identity can just as easily be fashioned from opposing something as from rallying around something (just ask a Canadian).