At This Historical Juncture: A Call For Europe To Break Free – And Fly Again.

A Citizens Observatory Opinion | July 2025

Geopolitics Chronicles Ep.1

Europe is no longer at the head of the table. It hasn’t been for a long time, though we still carry the posture. We convene summits, draft communiqués, and invoke values, often more than we embody them.

The table we sit at belongs to another player, one that sits on the other side of the Atlantic. And for almost a century, it has been the uncontested dominant force across economy, military, and morality.

But the air has changed. Power has new homes now, and new rhythms. The world is rearranging itself, and Europe, for all its heritage, is mostly reacting, if reacting at all, while we all feel so clearly that history is at a crossroads.

At this juncture, what if Europe, and by Europe I mean the countries in this part of the world including the United Kingdom, should this time not seek to reclaim, but to release? As opposed to pretending to lead, have the courage to stop following?

After a century of clinging to the afterglow of empire, fattening our self-complacency in the safety of transatlantic habits, what if Europe’s most dignified act would be to break its patterns – and meet the future where it is undoubtedly unfolding: across the Global South?

The world is changing. 2025 is a graveyard of inevitabilities, we have said it many times but we will continue to say it.

This is the most foundational text of the Citizens Observatory. This our declaration of intent: a final crescendo for us Europeans to turn from despair to dignity. I hope you embrace what is – to me – as much a prophecy as much as it is a plea.