Collective identities, friends, enemies

Abstract

This essay explores the inherent issues, questions and complexities that surround the notion of the European cultural identities. The article points out that, quite apart from the economic entities that constitute the European continent, Europe is abo a problematic socio‐cultural and socio‐political entity. The socio‐cultural and geo‐political legacy of the Cold War as well as the perceived cultural threat west of the Atlantic, have seriously questioned what the term ‘European identity’ means. The issue of European and national identity, with all its political connotations, however, will play a central role in the changes of the European cultural and political space in the years to come. This essay provides both theoretical and historical reflections on how these factors will shape the developments of the future.