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LAST UPDATE | 28 Jul 2025
“The order is rapidly fadin’” – Bob Dylan
MANY CONVERSATIONS THESE days start with an understandable despondency that the world appears to be spinning out of control.
There is a risk of allowing ourselves, faced by increasingly topsy-turvy and threatening developments, either to throw up our hands or, worse, to throw in the towel. However, we would be foolish to conclude, just because it is difficult to make sense of global events, that we are powerless to confront them — either as individuals or as a country.
It is true that many of the alliances and relationships between countries that we have long taken for granted are splintering. Multilateral institutions and norms that, with all their imperfections, have provided significant stability for generations are being undermined. The sense of morality in international behaviour is being widely junked. To borrow Bob Dylan’s words, “the order is rapidly fadin’.”
The most dramatic change can be seen in the United States, where President Trump‘s Presidency represents a moral vacuum. It’s not that his country, or indeed any country, has ever been a paragon of virtue. However, Trump’s virulent disrespect for American democracy and his indifference to support for democracy abroad are truly dislocating. If he has any moral compass, it points not towards helping those who deserve support, at home and abroad, but towards his own family’s bank accounts.
Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine represents another assault on international stability, as well as a wider threat to the European democracies that Putin despises. Russia’s relentless attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, and the continuing scandal of the deported Ukrainian children, are illustrations of the moral void in Moscow.
One could identify numerous other instances of violence and injustice around the world. However, specific mention of Israel is necessary because of the precipitous moral decline represented by the Netanyahu Government’s assault on the civilian population of Gaza. A great deal of the helplessness that ordinary people feel about the state of the world today relates to the horrific scenes we see every day from Gaza, to which we are largely impotent witnesses.
A once long-respected country, despite its arrogant treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, Israel’s reputation has suffered profound damage in recent months. In one respect, however, Netanyahu has been right, namely in his insistence that the world faces a clash between civilisation and barbarism. With the random mass killing and deliberate starvation of children and other civilians in Gaza, Netanyahu has, for the moment, lined up his once-admired country on the side of barbarism.
Faced by these and so many other global challenges, Ireland cannot, of course, on its own, impose solutions or even identify what exactly those solutions may be.
However, there is one obvious thing we can do. Our Government, our opposition parties, and we as individuals can redouble our support for the European Union. We are fortunate to live in a part of the world where support for the rule of law remains strong, where democracy remains vibrant, and where values still play a significant part in shaping our engagement with the world.
I always go out of my way to acknowledge Europe’s imperfections. In common with all institutions and countries, it is flawed and makes many mistakes, including in its slow and thus far inadequate response to Gaza. However, in our increasingly unsettled world, the EU remains an essential pillar of common sense, decency and stability.
It cannot act alone and must work with its many like-minded friends, including the UK, Canada and Norway. But only the EU itself has the heft, in terms of population and economic weight, to provide the necessary leadership in a world increasingly challenged by populism and autocracy.
As the world seems to be spiralling towards the unknown, the obvious choice for Ireland’s politicians and people is to reaffirm our support for and commitment to the European Union, which, warts and all, is incomparably better than the alternatives.
That does not imply for a moment that we should accept unquestioningly everything that comes out of Brussels. On the contrary, we should redouble our efforts to shape European policies that reflect Ireland’s perspective, interests and values.
Nor does it mean going on a federalist crusade designed to deepen European integration for its own sake, an objective that has been a fringe interest for many decades. It means building intelligently and creatively on Europe’s proven capacity to step up, as it has done so often in recent years, to respond effectively to major crises such as Brexit and Covid.
Europe is most effective not when it debates institutional theory, but when it confronts real challenges. Those challenges have never been greater, especially at a time when the US can no longer be relied on as a partner. The present chaos and unpredictability require Europe to step up its level of ambition with a view to guaranteeing the security and prosperity of our citizens and so as to contribute as effectively as possible to addressing global challenges, including climate change, unchecked social media and military aggression. It is essential that we avoid any temptation to dilute our support for the imperfect European Union of today, in the illusory hope that one day a perfect Europe will come along.
The European Union may not prove successful in its ambition to protect the imperfect global progress of recent decades. However, it is unquestionably our best hope, and we would be very foolish indeed not to throw our weight behind it. As Bob Dylan might put it: we’d better start swimmin’ or we’ll sink like a stone.
Bobby McDonagh is a former Irish Ambassador to the EU, UK and Italy. He is an executive coach and commentator on subjects around EU and Brexit.
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