Victor Davis Hanson said Europe is facing existential problems due to a neo-socialist and pacifist political agenda [1, 2].
The assertions by the author and Hoover Institution Senior Fellow highlight a growing debate over whether European social and security policies are leaving the continent vulnerable to external threats and economic decline.
Speaking in an interview with Gabriella Power on Sky News Australia, Hanson said the current trajectory of European governance is failing [1]. He specifically pointed to a combination of disarmament, pacifism, and open-borders policies as the primary drivers of this instability [1, 2].
Hanson said these ideological choices have prevented the region from reaching its full capacity. "Economically and militarily, their power is not commensurate with their potential," Hanson said [1].
The fellow said that despite the lack of success, European leadership continues to adhere to these frameworks. "They’ve gone down a neo‑socialist, disarmament, pacifistic, open borders policy… It’s not working, and they’re doubling down," Hanson said [1].
According to Hanson, the intersection of these policies undermines the fundamental strength required to maintain regional stability [1, 2]. He framed the situation as a critical misalignment between the continent's inherent potential and its actualized power, a gap created by a commitment to a specific political agenda [1, 2].
“Economically and militarily, their power is not commensurate with their potential.”
This critique reflects a broader geopolitical argument that the shift toward social welfare and military restraint in Europe has created a security vacuum. By linking open-border policies and pacifism to economic weakness, Hanson suggests that Europe's internal ideological commitments are now directly conflicting with its need for external survival and strategic autonomy.
