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Geopolitics

Brexit: Europe's Silver Lining On An Epic Mess

The Brexit debacle has had at least one virtue: Eurosceptic leaders from other countries are no longer pushing to leave the EU. But that is only part of the story.

Protestors lay on European Union flag at citizens' march in Brussels, Belgium
Protestors lay on European Union flag at citizens' march in Brussels, Belgium
Eric Le Boucher

PARIS — Amid the general bewilderment that surrounds Brexit, there is at least one strong certainty: leaving the European Union has lost any possible attractiveness. Those who feared that the British example would be followed by other countries exiting the EU, leading to its progressive disintegration, have been spectacularly incorrect. Even hardened Eurosceptic leaders avoid any declarations of plans to leave the Union.

The most emblematic are Matteo Salvini in Italy and Marine Le Pen in France. Though they have not renounced the demolition of Europe to restore their respective national sovereignties, they want to do so from the inside, not from the outside. The European construction will overcome Brexit, which has so far without a doubt been the greatest threat in the history of the EU. Whether Britain leaves or not, the Union will survive.

Will it be better off? The EU will survive but it will be weakened. The amputation will include the UK's population (66 million inhabitants, or 13%), military (the only other professional army than France), economy (15% of GDP), financial muscle and ideology. A weakened EU is a gift made for Donald Trump (who speaks of it as a "foe") and for Xi Jinping (who wants to put a ‘belt" around the entire continent from Beijing to Rome).

The British were at the forefront in many areas.

Hobbled, will the EU grow more united? That's the French gamble: without the British systematic blocking in Brussels, further integration will finally be possible. Cleared of the third "big", France and Germany find themselves in a position to lead and strengthen the "Berlin-Paris' axis. The road is clear for a Europe that is less free-market driven, a project built more around "protection", the deeper development of a finance cemented in the euro and an economy oriented toward supporting its own industries and technologies and the construction of an autonomous defense. In short, a transformation toward real sovereignty.

Still, the British will be missed. They were at the forefront in many areas such as the environment, genetic technologies, and of course, finance and defense. If military cooperation with France should survive, a fundamentally pacifist Germany will likely refuse to increase its budget. As for building a Europe of capital, as fluid and global as The City of London, it is a challenge that seems out of reach.

Merkel_Macron_Berlin_Conference

French President Macron and German Chancellor Merkel speak at a press conference in Berlin — Photo: Shan Yuqi

Moreover, among the EU's remaining 27, unity does not seem easier than 28. The departure of Britain leaves small countries that are not part of the Eurozone without their leader. They represent 24% of the bloc's habitants, but are marginalized. Others fear a "French Europe," a pessimistic budgetary framework and interventionist economy, and have revived the Hanseatic League to defend themselves under the banner of The Netherlands.

The most disappointing is the tension within the Franco-German duo. Emmanuel Macron is convinced that Europe has not moved forward in 30 years, and wants a significant European budget with oversight on asylum, climate change, innovation and defense. Germany instead is sticking to the idea of an inter-state rather than super-state Europe. And there looks to be little chance of reconciling the two contrasting visions.

This leads to the second certainty that comes with the departure of the UK: Europe will continue to advance, but very, very slowly.

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Future

AI Is Good For Education — And Bad For Teachers Who Teach Like Machines

Despite fears of AI upending the education and the teaching profession, artificial education will be an extremely valuable tool to free up teachers from rote exercises to focus on the uniquely humanistic part of learning.

Journalism teacher and his students in University of Barcelona.

Journalism students at the Blanquerna University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

© Sergi Reboredo via ZUMA press
Julián de Zubiría Samper

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ - Early in 2023, Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates included teaching among the professions most threatened by Artificial Intelligence (AI), arguing that a robot could, in principle, instruct as well as any school-teacher. While Gates is an undoubted expert in his field, one wonders how much he knows about teaching.

As an avowed believer in using technology to improve student results, Gates has argued for teachers to use more tech in classrooms, and to cut class sizes. But schools and countries that have followed his advice, pumping money into technology at school, or students who completed secondary schooling with the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have not attained the superlative results expected of the Gates recipe.

Thankfully, he had enough sense to add some nuance to his views, instead suggesting changes to teacher training that he believes could improve school results.

I agree with his view that AI can be a big and positive contributor to schooling. Certainly, technological changes prompt unease and today, something tremendous must be afoot if a leading AI developer, Geoffrey Hinton, has warned of its threat to people and society.

But this isn't the first innovation to upset people. Over 2,000 years ago, the philosopher Socrates wondered, in the Platonic dialogue Phaedrus, whether reading and writing wouldn't curb people's ability to reflect and remember. Writing might lead them to despise memory, he observed. In the 18th and 19th centuries, English craftsmen feared the machines of the Industrial Revolution would destroy their professions, producing lesser-quality items faster, and cheaper.

Their fears were not entirely unfounded, but it did not happen quite as they predicted. Many jobs disappeared, but others emerged and the majority of jobs evolved. Machines caused a fundamental restructuring of labor at the time, and today, AI will likely do the same with the modern workplace.

Many predicted that television, computers and online teaching would replace teachers, which has yet to happen. In recent decades, teachers have banned students from using calculators to do sums, insisting on teaching arithmetic the old way. It is the same dry and mechanical approach to teaching which now wants to keep AI out of the classroom.

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