Thomas Fazi is one of my favourite writers on European politics. He holds a leftist, euro-critical position that I may label “ambitious pragmatism”, i.e. the approach of framing a progressive agenda along the lines of what is politically feasible. This contrasts with the “conformist” pragmatism others appeal to when justifying their view of upholding the status quo.
In a recent interview Fazi elaborates on his constructive criticism of certain idealist tendencies of the political left that wish to circumvent the nation state altogether. These are euro-federalist views that aim at establishing an outright European democracy as a substitute—rather than extension—of the nation states that comprise the European Union. Fazi warns:
But this idea that some people in the European Left have, that you can somehow skip the nation-state and change things directly at the regional or even global level, without, for example, being bothered with winning elections at home – not only do I think this is wrong, I think it is dangerous. It could be the last nail in the Left’s coffin.
