Munich – ESI at Literaturhaus: Why we must defend European integration

20 October 2025
Munich Literaturhaus. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Rufus46
Munich Literaturhaus. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Rufus46

ESI’s Gerald Knaus gave a presentation on the findings of his new book “Welches Europa Brauchen Wir” at the Literaturhaus in Munich, a major local cultural institution.

Gerald began by noting that the project of European integration is more threatened today than it has been at any point since the end of the Cold War. This is a great danger, Gerald argued. European integration has above all been a peace project: although violent conflicts have continued in parts of the continent beyond the union, relations among its member states have been fundamentally transformed, turning former rivals into close partners. Yet, this progress now faces fundamental dangers from authoritarian forces both within and outside of Europe. To both its east and west, the EU is facing the rise of authoritarian, nationalist forces in MAGA in the United States and Vladimir Putin’s Russia; these forces have openly aligned themselves with the authoritarian, nationalist far-right within Europe, who are rapidly rising in the polls.

The immense progress that integration has brought to Europe is thus under imminent threat. Gerald argues that in an era of chaos and pessimism, democratic forces in Europe need to find their voice, speaking out proudly, with conviction, and in unison about the benefits Europe has gained from integration and the dangers of a return to nationalism in Europe.