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TOWARDSAEUROPEANHISTORYOF
HENRYV
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theUK.Intherun-uptoIraqiFreedom,theUScouldcountongovernmentsupport
fromtheUK,Spain,Italy,andcountrieslikePolandaswellastheNetherlands.Ger-
manyandFrancetookthevocalleadintheopposition,creatingasituationwhere
Europewitnessedgreaterpoliticaldivisionthanmanycouldrecall.Thisisnottheplace
togointoasituationanalysedsowellbyTzvetanTodorovinLenouveaudésordre
mondial,hisdeeplycommittedcallforaEuropeunitedinpeacebutalsoarmedto
protectanddefend(particularlyabroad)theverypeaceidealthatmakesitstrong.
21
Thiswouldseemtobetheplace,though,tomentiononeofthenotableEuropean
attemptstoseekunificationinthemidstofthepoliticalturmoiloverIraq,anat-
temptthathasreceivedlittleornoattentioneventhoughitadvancedShakespeare
(amongotherwritersandartists,nodoubt)asoneoftheagentsofEuropeanpeace
andunity.Iamreferringheretotheso-called“Appealbytheculturalworld:For
aEuropefoundedonitsculture”ofearlyJune2004.Itwaswrittenatatimeofcrisis,
asEuropewitnessed“theproliferationofterrorismand[sawhow]therecourseto
violenceenhance[d]insecurity.”AndTheAppealwassignedbyrepresentativesof
theEuropeanartsincludingClaudioAbbado,CeciliaBartoli,LucBondy,Pierre
Boulez,PeterBrook,RiccardoChailly,PatriceChéreau,HugoClaus,RoddyDoyle,
andothers.
22
“Theworld,”theyargued,“hastherighttoexpecttheEuropeanUniontoconstitute
apowertobereckonedwith,thatspeakswithonevoiceandthatislistenedtoas
amoralauthority.Clearly,Europedoesnotplayacentralroleintheworldorder.It
maintainstheillusionthattheUnionservesfirstandforemostaneconomicandmone-
tarypurpose.Itseemscutofffromitspastandswayedbyblindforces,whenitshould
manifestitselfasaprojectsolidlyrootedinitsheritage.”Thiscommonheritagewas
definedasfollows:
AsEuropeancitizensweareallheirstoHomerandVirgil,VanEyckandMichelangelo,
ShakespeareandCervantes,BachandMozart,ChopinandLiszt,FlaubertandKafka,Eisenstein
andBergman.Theirarthasfashionedaculturewhichpassesontousacommonpastandcom-
monpointsofreference,andwhichhascontributedtothebirthofdemocraticvalues.ThisEuro-
peanidentitythatweallsharecameintobeinglongbeforethepoliticalconstructionofmodern
Europe.Forcenturies,artisticandculturalexchangehaveignorednationalfrontiersandlanguage
barriers,andhavehelpedtosurmountdividesandhealthewoundsinflictedbythebloodiestcon-
flicts.
Itisourdutytodaytopassonthisheritagetofuturegenerations,tofosteritandmakeitricher
yet.Democracycannotbelimitedtomereinstitutions,noteventoamodeoforganisation.Itis
weakenedwhennotinspiredbymind,artandresearch.IftheEuropeofproductionandconsump-
tionweretodominateEuropeasacivilization,ifEuropeasacommonmarketweretoreplace
Europeasapoliticalandculturalproject,thepresentglobalcrisismightculminateinaclashbe-
tweentheforcesoffundamentalismandthoseofmaterialism.Thisclashwouldbeastraumatic
anddevastatingastheworstscourgesthathavehithumanityduringthelastcentury.
AfinalstatementimplicitlydissociatedEuropefurtherfromtheUS,inthatitarro-
gatedadutythatitalonecouldfulfil:
21T.Todorov,Lenouveaudésordremondial,Paris:EditionsRobertLaffont,2004.
22See<http://www.opera_europa.org/upload/Appeal%20by%20the%20cultural%20world%20.doc>.