The global financial crisis that began in 2008 claimed many companies and banks as it roller coasted through the world’s capitals. Whilst the economic crisis has its roots in the bubble of credit that developed over the last decade, the subsequent deep recession created a human crisis as unemployment, company closures, inflation, debt and riots have spiralled out of control. The crisis that has engulfed Europe is no longer just economic but what we are now seeing is the political fallout.
The European Union was conceived after WW2 as Europe was ravaged from war. The European continent has a long history of wars as various rulers and empires attempted to conquer the continent. To ensure this never happened again and to contain Germany, perpetuator of two wars in the 20th century, a unified Europe was attempted. The union grew from a handful of member states to the current 27 members and has undergone many treaties to amalgamate Europe. Many aspects of European life were amalgamated through constituent states giving up some sovereignty to the union. These have included certain monetary tools, currency, security and many laws. Over a period of 60 years the European Union became an integrated whole through unifying its markets, through a single currency and the Lisbon treaty in 2009 which streamlined decision making empowering Europe to emerge as a continental entity.
Whilst it took half a century to unify Europe this all appears to be falling apart. The factors that were said to unify the peoples of the European continent were all abandoned when it came to the time of need of one of its constituent members. Whilst in this particular case Greece has been labelled the weakest link the European Union was always unworkable.
The European Union has expanded well beyond its original founder states. Consensus on how far enlargement should go and how deep integration should be continues to plague the union. Member states have always been reluctant to relinquish their sovereignty to bureaucrats in Brussels or leave key decision making to the two nations that dominate the EU – Germany and France. A union based upon a confederation made the EU a mere customs union – so whilst from an economic perspective the EU acted as one block, political sovereignty meant the union always remain disjointed. The Lisbon treaty in 2009 was an attempt to overcome such differences by replacing unanimous voting with qualified majority voting (QMV), this practically meant most EU issues could no longer be vetoed by a single nation.
The British view of Europe has always ensured the union remained fragmented. Britain viewed the EU through the lens of achieving its own interests. It joined the EU only when the détente was agreed between the Soviet Union and the US in order to challenge the two giants. Britain refused to melt into the EU like Luxemburg and at the same time Britain has always had ambitions to play a leading role in Europe. As this is currently not possible Britain essentially has kept one leg in the EU and one in America. Thus, when its interests are parallel to the US, Britain sides with it and hence weakens the EU. This suits the US who does not want Europe to compete with her as a unified block.
France, Germany and Britain have dominated European history, whilst they colonised the world much of central and Eastern Europe was on the receiving end of colonial expansion. As a result whilst Europe went through the enlightenment and as a continent challenged the Christian church, Europe’s common history ends here. All European states have differing identities and this continued obstacle meant the powerful nations within the EU pulled the union in a direction different to the other member states.
Fundamentally a union of smaller states into a larger political union is a weak method of amalgamation. It lacks the characteristics found in full unification where a people become one nation. A union as a method of binding peoples and nations is always prone to political differences as it continues to recognise the sovereignty of constituent nations. This institutionalises differences and ensures nations pursue national interests within the block which fragments the union.
The Islamic Model
Islam has a very specific method of binding different peoples and nations. Islam has a number of rules which outline clearly the method of enlargement, integration annexation and unification. Primarily this is through establishing the Khilafah which is one state for all the citizens under its authority.
The Islamic way of ruling is to establish equality between the subjects in all the regions of the State. Islam grants non-Muslims who hold citizenship, the full rights and duties that Muslims have. They enjoy the same fairness as Muslims and are subject to the same accountability as them.
Furthermore, every single citizen, regardless of his or her creed, enjoys rights that even a Muslim living abroad who holds no citizenship does not enjoy. Islam considers every single region as an indivisible part of the State and its citizens enjoy the same rights as those in the central region. It also makes the ruling, its system of governance and its legislation the same for all citizens. In this way over a generation different peoples will become a homogenous entity and this gives it strength, makes the nation move in one direction – which leads to progress.
The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم established Islam in Madina and he ruled over a people where the Ummah was a minority. Treaties were signed with the surrounding Jewish tribes and the rights between the Muslims and non-Muslims were clearly defined in the As-Saheefa document, which was in effect a constitution. When the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم passed away the whole Arabian Peninsula was under Islamic authority and the Sahabah then expanded the Islamic lands to North Africa, the Sub-continent and Central Asia. By ensuring no region had separate legislative, political and economic rules, this created a sense of unity and resulted in the conquered to fully embrace Islam, make it their own and then carry the call to the surrounding lands. Muhammed bin Qasim embraced Islam when under Umar (ra) Iraq came under Islam, Muhammed bin Qasim then carried this call to the subcontinent. In a similar manner it was under Mu’awiyah that the Berbers of Egypt embraced Islam, the Berber turned Muslim Tariq bin Ziyad then took Islam to Spain.
Conclusions
The EU will inevitably be disjointed as the major powers such as France and Britain view Europe from the perspective of achieving their own national interests. Germany on the other hand weakens its prospects by viewing the world from a European perspective; this in effect contains the economic giant. The European sovereign debt crisis has exposed the political shortcomings of establishing a federal union. At the heart of this crisis is not really debt or the economy but an unworkable model of unity.