Crazy or Laughable? Why The EU (Still) Thinks It Rules The World | Professor Peo Hansen

Originally published on 21 Aprril 2024.
The EU to this day treats Africa as a colonial backyard that must be 'managed' rather than engaged with on equal footing. At the same time, Josep Borrell begs China to recognise the EU as a fellow great power—something no self-respecting power would ever even dream of. All of this is symptomatic not only for the EU commissions current mental state, but the history of the Union, a history it often downplays or forgets about all together.

My guest today is a Swedish academic; Professor Peo Hansen of Linköping University.

His research focuses among other things on European integration, migration, political economy, and geopolitics. Dr. Hansen is the author of several books, including “Eurafrica: The Untold History of European Integration and Colonialism” of which there is also an academic article and recently he wrote a short magazine article as well.

The book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/eurafrica-9781780930008/

The academic article: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/historypresent.7.1.0001

The short article: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2023/10/31/the-colonial-origins-of-european-integration/