The Brief – Waiting for the disruptors

The term ‘disruption’ in the field of politics has become a buzzword, although there is little clarity as to what the term means, how it is deployed, and towards what ends.

Among political disruptors, the most frequently mentioned name is Donald Trump. Even before his election in 2017, analysts called him “the ultimate disruptor”, breaking every rule in the book. We have already argued that Trump is likely to return to the White House again.

Javier Milei, the new president of Argentina, elected by a landslide, is described in many ways: as libertarian, radical, anti-mainstream, and certainly a disruptor.

In 2017, this catchy headline highlighted problems to come: “Dutch election a test case for Europe’s appetite for populist disruptors” – illustrated with photos of the far-right populist Geert Wilders.

Now that Wilders won the Dutch elections last Wednesday, a major disruption can be anticipated before our union attempts to change its treaties.

This seems to be a perfect time for disruptors on the global scene.

The post-World War II international institutions such as the United Nations are either blocked or irrelevant. The alienation between the “golden billion” and the Global South is growing. Europe has two wars at its gates with no end in sight.

To put it simply: The world is pregnant with problems while mainstream politicians seem unable to propose solutions. At the same time, I believe that the disruptors named above are likely to bring chaos rather than any good.

Make no mistake: there have been positive disruptors in history. When Winston Churchill became the UK prime minister in 1940, he managed to put an abrupt end to the politics of appeasing Hitler (and even admiring the Nazis), professed until then by many in the British mainstream.

At that time, the US was pursuing a policy of neutrality vis-à-vis Hitler during the first two years of World War II, until imperial Japan made the historic mistake of attacking Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt had no choice but to disrupt an infamous policy of neutrality, called, by the way, “America First”. The term, today a trademark catchphrase of Donald Trump, was coined by President Woodrow Wilson in his 1916 campaign that pledged to keep America neutral in World War I.

President Ronald Reagan, considered by many the mastermind of tearing down the Iron Curtain, could be considered a positive disruptor both internationally and domestically, as the author of Reaganomics, decried as ‘voodoo economics’ by his opponents and ‘free market economics’ by supporters.

President Barack Obama won the 2009 elections on a platform for disruption, but after his two terms, it can be said that he was neither an innovator nor a disruptor.

In Europe, the greatest positive disruptors have been, in my view, (and, as an Eastern European, I may be subjective), Lech Wałęsa in Poland and Karol Józef Wojtyła, better known as Pope John Paul II. In the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev was certainly a positive disruptor.

Sadly, I fail to see ‘positive disruptors’ emerging from our collective West today.

The political mainstream seems to have abandoned the disruption territory, to the benefit of nationalists, extremists, populists, and charlatans. This explains the proliferation of mini-Trumps in many of the countries of our European Union.  

With the European elections around the corner, EU politicians hoping to obtain our votes could perhaps realise that only a disruptor can beat another disruptor – and envisage proposing a much-needed positive disruption. But they will need to think big.

The Roundup

The Spanish presidency of the EU Council asked member states for flexibility in the sensitive area of law enforcement ahead of a crucial political meeting for the AI law.

The German Greens have adopted a European Parliament election programme which highlights the need for carbon capture and storage, a historic shift for the party.

Brussels on Monday gave the final green light for an EU-New Zealand trade deal that, while mutually lowering barriers for both markets, highlights the recent failure of EU-Australia negotiations.

Germany, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are set to approach the European Commission with a proposal to reform EU digital policy, with Berlin hoping to benefit from the expertise of the Baltic states who, in turn, want to capitalise on Germany’s clout.

The Bulgarian government will offer financial incentives consistent with mandatory annual preventive health examinations, in a move that could be dubbed a “tax return” and is aimed at improving overall public health.

Describing HPV (Human papillomavirus) vaccination for girls and boys as a “game-changer”, Ireland’s Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has revealed that Dublin is on target to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 and is now in “a strong position to exceed the World Health Organisation [cervical cancer] global targets”.

Green campaigners have condemned the European Parliament’s proposed provisions for trucks running solely on renewable fuels, though the fuels industry insists the move is in line with Europe’s climate goals.

Renew Europe chief and leader of the Renaissance presidential party, Stéphane Séjourné, said he would lead the fight to the European elections without clarifying though if he would also lead the party list.

Egyptian, Qatari and US negotiators closed in on an extension of a four-day truce in Gaza that expires on Monday, Egyptian security sources said, amid rising international pressure to roll over a deal which has paused seven weeks of fighting.

Look out for…

• Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi participates in International Conference on a Global Alliance to counter migrant smuggling.
• Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council meets in Brussels Monday-Tuesday.
• European Business Summit in Brussels Tuesday-Wednesday.
• Parliament President Roberta Metsola delivers a speech on the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Wednesday.

Views are the author’s

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald/Zoran Radosavljevic]