Book Review: The Strange Death of Europe

The Strange Death of Europe is an important and timely contribution to the American immigration debate. Douglass Murray’s deliberate avoidance of both hyperbole and dismissiveness vouches for a genuine consideration of his analysis and recommendations.

The politics of immigration in Western Europe is surprisingly similar to the US. Murray discusses the standard reasons given to support unbounded immigration: economics, demographics, diversity, and being “unstoppable.” Of particular note is the appropriation of the uniquely American claim to be a “nation of immigrants.” Murray shows how the “Huguenot example” of 1681 (the single example of an immigrant England) actually reveals the non-immigrant history of Europe.

Murray reviews the policy divides between Europe’s populace and “political class.” First, the easy political path is to dismiss immigration concerns as dangerous and racist. Second, those who do campaign to reduce immigration often enact policies that maintain or grow the problem. Finally, Murray describes “the assassin’s veto” that has led to severe self-censorship in Europe. This refers to the credible death threats that often come to those who discuss the illiberal customs of Europe’s mostly Muslim immigrants (anti-Semitism, so-called honor killings, increased incidence of rape, etc.).

With this backdrop, Murray presents his thesis that Western European cultures will not survive continued massive migration. First, their loss of Christian faith leads not just to secularization, but also to a loss of a unifying origin story. Second, undue emphasis on the shameful episodes of Europe’s past leads further to a sense of cultural guilt. These two factors of “weak and relativistic” culture falter next to the strong faith and predominant cultures of the immigrants.

Examples of the lost cultural competition include Murray’s descriptions of the historic Parisian district of Saint-Denis and of London after massive migrations. Saint-Denis now is “more resembling North Africa than France”; London became a minority British city in 2011. These are common occurrences across Western European, foreshadowing a total eclipse of local culture.

Murray’s recommendations are applicable across the Western world. To support migrants, he wants to fund refugee camps and work projects near countries of origin. This would avoid “cultural challenges” with Europe and conflicting immigrant groups, support more families, and provide a means of self-sufficiency. To support Europe, he wants to focus on the best qualities of Western culture and history, recognize the difference between mainstream immigration concerns and neo-Nazism, and process asylum claims outside Europe (like Australia does).

Murray is not optimistic that Europe will make a U-turn in its immigration policies. He predicts that by 2050, China, India, Russia, and Eastern Europe will “probably still look like” themselves, but Western Europe will cease to look like itself. Instead, it will look like the UN with only “small pockets” of European lifestyle surviving in its midst. In contrast, I am hopeful that America can learn from the mistakes of its fatherlands, and implement Murray’s recommendations here.