Communication to the wider audience

The European Union is heading towards a period of massive rearmament, against a backdrop of international tensions, controversy, and a confused public opinion. In an article published on the italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, Stefano Bartolini and Francesco Sarracino reflect on the economic and social implications of this choice, in the light of defensive consumption: public and private resources used to protect against the crisis of a collective resource. In this case, the resource in crisis is trust between states. There are at least five reasons why European rearmament could prove dangerous, including the erosion of international cooperation and the risk of destructive spirals on the economic, social, and political fronts.
On the contrary, confidence-building—for example, through international disarmament treaties based on verifiability and shared timetables—has proven to be an effective strategy throughout history. This is the path that can give the economy a chance to grow.
Rearmament could drag Europe into destructive spirals, transforming societies and making them unrecognizable in the long term.
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