THE CRISIS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: APOCALYPSE NOW?

This paper imagines the dissolution of the European Union. Notwithstanding the many theories of European integration, there is a conspicuous lack of theories of its disintegration. Inspired by a recent lm, this paper discusses the emerging public debate surrounding the crisis of the EU. It argues that, in the case of a possible, slow disintegration of the EU, we ought not to envision a return to the prior sovereignty of the nation states, but rather a strengthening of the networks of global cities. This alternative vision draws its roots from the different elds of political geography and the sociology of communication, and from the tradition of municipal federalism.