Abstract

Toynbee suggests that the European Modern civilization is confronted with the existential challenge “unite or perish”. The specific current crises foster de-civilizing processes in European society and politics. Europeans need to decouple state and nation, and demos and ethnos to conceptualize and create a supra-national and post-national democracy. This attempt has a global historical significance for the prospects of a new global order, based on a peaceful process of pooling and sharing of sovereignty, to cope with global problems.