How Europe Became the Land of Losers and Vassals - Author: Jude S. Ngu'Ewodo

 Here’s the short pitch I (Jude S. Ngu'Ewodo) would have held at the Munich Security Conference 2025, if I were invited:

Title: How Europe Became the Land of Losers and Vassals

Europe used to be the world’s architect—building empires, pioneering revolutions, setting the rules. Today? It’s a museum, preserving past glories while the world moves on.

What happened?

(1) Technological Dependence:

Europe imports its future. Silicon Valley owns the digital world, Asia makes the chips, and Europe… regulates. The continent that sparked the Industrial Revolution is now a spectator, watching American and Asian giants shape tomorrow.

(2) Security Dependence:

Europe can’t defend itself. It relies on U.S. military power like a child clinging to its parent. Talk of “strategic autonomy” is just that—talk. If tomorrow, the U.S. decided to take Greenland by force, what could Europe do? Nothing. As powerless as a puppet with cut strings.

(3) Economic Decay & Demographic Time Bomb:

An aging population, welfare states that can’t be sustained, and a currency that ties them together in misery. Young Europeans are paying for the debts of their grandparents. Southern Europe is bankrupt; Northern Europe is tired of bailing them out. This isn’t union—it’s a sinking ship.

(4) Irrelevance on the Global Stage:

The ultimate humiliation? Europe’s irrelevance in Ukraine.

As the U.S. capitulates to Russia in #Ukraine, Europe is a spectator. Decisions about its own continent will be made in Washington and Moscow. Europe talks, but no one listens.

(5) 500 Years of Racism = Missed Opportunity:

Europe could have been a global powerhouse by now if it had embraced a true partnership with Africa. European know-how + African minerals = an economic force. But 500 years of racism blinded Europe. It chose exploitation over cooperation.

I remember traveling through Portugal during the financial crisis. My driver, an old Portuguese man, wondered aloud, “What if we had built a nation of equals with Brazil, Angola, and Mozambique? Maybe we wouldn’t be suffering now.” That was the missed opportunity.

Three Things Gen Z Can Do to Save Old #Europe:

(i) Build or Be Built Over: Stop complaining and start creating. Europe needs its own tech giants.

(ii) Defend What’s Yours: Strategic autonomy is a must. Relying on the U.S. for defense is a dead end.

(iii) Burn the Rulebook and Old Prejudices: Break the chains of bureaucracy and colonial mindsets. Forge real partnerships with Africa—as equals.

The Clock is Ticking

Rebirth or irrelevance. The choice is stark. The responsibility? On Gen Z’s shoulders. If they don’t rise, Europe will continue its slide into a historical footnote.