W
e have entered a new era. Of course, it is difficult to foresee what the emerging world will look like. But some trends are unmistakable. The abduction of Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump's desire to seize Venezuela's oil resources, as well as the threat over Greenland, are not isolated incidents. They are part of a series of actions and declarations that seem to signal a lasting and profound evolution in our global system.
We are likely entering a new age of imperial conquests, and what economist Arnaud Orain has called "finitude capitalism" – marked by growing rivalry between major powers for the control of resources (financial, natural, labor and more). But for how long?
What we know about this world we have glimpsed is that gentle commerce and international law are no longer relevant. This new regime of capitalism is instead defined by the seizure of resources and the capture of value in the name of national interest and the law of the strongest. It sacrifices "weak zones," both political and economic, relegating them to the status of vassals or colonies on the peripheries of imperial centers. In this emerging world, the European Union is the lamb among wolves.
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