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[[Slavoj Žižek ]] and Srećko Horvat combine their critical clout to emphasize the dangers of ignoring Europe’s growing wealth gap and the parallel rise in [[right]]-wing [[nationalism]], which is directly tied to the fallout from the ongoing financial crisis and its prescription of imposed austerity. To general observers, the European Union’s [[economic ]] woes appear to be its greatest problem, but the [[real ]] peril is an ongoing ideological–political ideological–[[political]] crisis that threatens an era of instability and reactionary brutality.

The fall of [[communism ]] in 1989 seemed to end the [[leftist ]] program of [[universal ]] emancipation. However, nearly a quarter of a century later, the [[European Union ]] has failed to produce any coherent [[vision ]] that can mobilize [[people ]] to [[action]]. Until recently, the only [[ideology ]] receptive to European [[workers ]] has been the nationalist call to “defend” against [[immigrant ]] integration. Today, [[Europe ]] is focused on regulating the [[development ]] of [[capitalism ]] and promoting a reactionary conception of its [[cultural ]] heritage. Yet staying these courses, Žižek and Horvat show, only strips Europe of its [[power ]] and stifles its political ingenuity. The best hope is for Europe to revive and [[defend ]] its legacy of universal egalitarianism, which benefits all parties by preserving the promise of equal [[representation]].