There is much to be learned from leaders of empires other than those addressed in this book. Here are two additional cameos on leaders from the European Union.
CAMEO: Jean Monnet (1888–1979)
Jean Monnet was a visionary. To my mind, his vision was impaired.
Monnet was a French diplomat and political economist who dreamed of a united Europe similar to the United States. He famously said, “We are not forming coalitions of states, we are uniting men.”1
The problem was—and is—that unlike in the United States, those European men are parts of states and cultures that have been in conflict with one another for centuries.
Monnet’s experience as deputy secretary general of the failed League of Nations from 1919 until 1923 should have disabused him of the notion of trying to unite such disparate factions. The idea that peoples and nations with differing religions, cultures, and histories could be brought together on the basis of nothing better than a dream was folly. The year 2018 may have started the unraveling of the EU, with the beginning of Britain’s exit. Others may follow.
Monnet hated war and was passionate about peace (who loves war and hates peace?). He viewed nation-states as obstacles to peace because they always act in their own interests and lust after land and the resources of other states.
As we have seen elsewhere, Monnet ignored the real problem, which is not nation-states but the state of human nature. Only God can alter human nature, or at least redirect it through conversion. The history of man’s failed attempts to usher in “peace on earth, goodwill to men” is littered with failure. Even if Monnet rejected a religious solution to the problem of war, history might have taught him the same thing.
Monnet’s road to peace was paved with good intentions—to unite the European continent—but we know where that road leads, don’t we?
CAMEO: Angela Merkel
If Jean Monnet was the father of the European Union, German chancellor Angela Merkel might be said to have contributed to what could be its execution.
Merkel opened Germany’s borders to a flood of migrants, mostly from North Africa, who had nothing in common with German culture, religion, or language. Even after growing incidents of violent crime, including rape, Merkel refused to cease what she believed to be a humanitarian effort. Leaders are supposed to look after their own citizens first, but Merkel seemed to want to put Germans last. Perhaps she was pursuing some humanitarian award, like the Nobel Peace Prize.
The unbridled flow of migrants became so bad that the government was unable to account for the whereabouts of one million of them. The country’s “easy system” recorded only an asylum applicant’s name and country of origin and not much else.
The widely read publication Der Spiegel editorialized, “The state stands disgraced and trust is vanishing—and not just when it comes to deportations, but when it comes to everything that a state actually stands for: internal security.”2
It was the vanished trust in Merkel that caused her to announce in the fall of 2018 she would not seek reelection to another term. Unfortunately, the damage she has caused may be beyond repair.