New values must mean new policies - Is neutrality sustainable?

AS the world tried to remake itself after World War II idealists — even some hard-bitten leaders in victorious regimes — argued that a world government was the only way a sustained peace might be secured. 

Appalled by what civilisation might do to itself, especially one prepared to use nuclear weapons, these optimists hoped that an organisation like the United Nations might help prevent military conflict. The idea gathered considerable momentum but, in one of the cruel ironies of history, became a catalyst for the Cold War when nation after nation baulked at passing sovereignty to an untried, remote entity.

We seem to be at, or at least approaching, a similar point today, though not pressed by anything like the same level of human need — despite today’s refugee crisis. European states are realigning to reflect changing values. The uplifting social character that once made the European Union such a positive agent for change seems under threat. Policies that once enshrined personal freedoms and rights are not as universally celebrated or as unquestioned as before.