Giuliano da Empoli, an Italian-Swiss political essayist and professor at Sciences Po Paris, gave an extensive interview today to a major Portuguese newspaper about his latest book, The Hour of the Predator: Encounters with the Autocrats and Tech Billionaires Taking Over the World. Since the article is behind a paywall, I thought it would be helpful to share a brief summary in the form of three key excerpts from the interview:
"To simplify, there are two major possibilities...either we manage to impose democratic rules and our way of life onto the digital dimension of life; or the absence of rules, the law of the strongest, and the jungle law of today’s digital world will impose themselves on our private lives, our democracies, and our public life. In the first case, we will continue to have a democratic future; in the other, we will cease to have a democratic future"
I believe this is a very humiliating moment for Europe and Europeans. European integration was once, to some extent, the model that others looked up to—but that is no longer the case. And we are powerless and, at least in part, unable to defend ourselves.
The one thing all predators have in common is attacking Europe. Every day. Trump, Putin, Musk, Zuckerberg... Which means we bother them. We’re an obstacle to their plans. I believe we should become an even greater one"
Giuliano da Empoli may be right to draw attention to Europe’s vulnerabilities when confronting autocrats and tech billionaires. Yet, he may also overlook the deeper significance of the European project as a remarkable civilizational leap. As Michio Kaku noted decades ago, "the European Union is the beginning of a Type I economy… these European countries, which have slaughtered each other ever since the ice melted 10,000 years ago... they have banded together, put aside their differences to create the European Union." This perspective suggests that, despite its vulnerabilities, the European project embodies a commitment to transnational cooperation and long-term resilience, serving as a testament to humanity’s capacity for reconciliation and collective purpose—an audacious step toward planetary maturity. https://pacheco-torgal.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-role-of-academia-towards-type-1.html
PS - Regarding da Empoli’s book, I’d like to emphasize that his thesis resonates with another work I mentioned earlier on this blog in early July. At that time, I argued that in this particular context, "it becomes all the more urgent—indeed, imperative—that academia, as the last bastion of critical inquiry and intellectual integrity, reaffirms its uncompromising commitment to truth as a non-negotiable principle" https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2025/07/book-world-builders-we-are-entering-new.html
