Europe Cosmopolitical or Populist: Justice and Soft Power in Perspective

Today Europe faces a dilemma: to be cosmopolitical or not to be. The peril of disintegration of the European Union announced by the recent Brexit results and the rise of right-wing populism through Europe calls for an exercise in soft power by the European Union in matters regarding political negotiation and conflict mediation within its space. This capacity seems, however, to be missing. This paper defends that, in order to regain a consistent soft power, the European Union must devise a hegemonic strategy aimed at constructing a European liquid identity from a democratic subject position that might be defined as strongly cosmopolitan.