The End of Europe?

Mark Steyn, the ever-witty contributor for National Review has released a fascinating book entitled, America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It. Personally, I have not read it but I plan to as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. I have a feeling that such a book will be, for obvious reasons, hard to come across here in Italy so I may have to wait until I return home. For those of you in the States, buy a copy asap! From the reviews that I have come across, it won’t disappoint. It seems that Steyn’s book would go well with George Weigel’s, The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America and Politics without God. Steyn outlines the grim prospects for Europe; she continues to dwindle in population thanks to dangerously low birth rates while at the same time she is subject to a never ending influx of Muslim immigrants. Steyn argues that Socialist Europe will be ever more forced to accommodate the new arrivals so as to find a means to pay for massive amounts of retirement pensions looming on the horizon for the aging European population. In addition, Steyn reveals how a sickening multiculturalism has effectively killed, or in the very least severely wounded, the cultural identities of European nations, leaving a vacuum to be filled by, you guessed it, the disciples of Islam. The book is not all doom and gloom however. Steyn points out that Europe’s demise could be the decisive wake-up call that America desperately needs. He argues forcefully that, at present, we are not winning the war on terror. Americans are beginning to show the first signs of battle fatigue. With Europe’s rotting corpse being divided and dissected among the unstoppable immigrants, America will become more isolated and, as a result, may be shocked back into reality. Steyn is convinced that while Europe is finished, America still has a fighting chance, but we can’t lose sight of what Weigel refers to as the ¨stakes for the states¨.

Ultimately, I may not share Steyn's pessimism regarding Europe's ultimate fate. I prefer to reserve some hope that the efforts of JPII and BXVI will produce some fruit; indeed, their warnings may be Europe's last chance. I'm not sure Steyn takes this factor into account in his book. Poland's unique status in Europe also deserves some attention. Nevertheless, America Alone is a welcome reminder for Americans to come around.