L’Europa del secolo veloce

If the 20th century has been the «age of extremes» and the «short century», the present time can already be conceived as the «fast century» a world which is changing very rapidly: it is sufficient to think of the extent of trading and economic links, of the transformations in technology and in the world of information, of the great climate and environmental issue, of the demographic and geopolitical developments in different continents, of migration. These are the themes against which Europe is measuring itself and against which the political dimension of integration can be analysed, reversing customary patterns. We are living in an age in which the role of Europe, of its values and its policies is under discussion. We do not know what the European Union of the future will be. We might say that Europe will most probably no longer be the «factory of the world». That is, it will not be the main location of material production. It may not even be the development hub of new immateriality, or of the search for new frontiers, be they those of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics or those of research and space and marine activity. In some of these sectors, European countries maintain important positions, but this may not be the case in the future. The reflection that this volume wishes to offer arises from this sort of considerations, collecting analyses and overviews on global trends already under way, essaying a stance with no established certainties regarding our future, in the hope of being able to contribute to a broader effort in analysing European reality beyond contemporary political contingencies. The contradictions in the European project are fuelled by a series of social fractures and by old and new political and cultural divisive lines in the European political systems. This research, the result of cooperation between CeSPI – Centro Studi di Politica Internazionale – and Donzelli, is a contribution for contextualising a relaunching of the European process in the future, with a choral reflection. The authors make up a group with different generations. It is no coincidence that commitment to change the world is newly involving hundreds of thousands of young people in our countries. Those who believe in a free and united Europe as a condition for the progress of humanity cannot but glimpse a new opportunity in this.