ABSTRACT
The financial crisis that erupted in 2007–2008 changed politics globally, but also in Europe. It highlighted some long-standing European weaknesses, but initially the most obvious feature of the new global order was the reduced role of the United States. Europe depends on a global framework within which it exists, thinks, and thrives – and whose defects produce specifically European deformations. The financial crisis also spurred a debate about the effect of hormones on market behavior and willingness to take risk, with some research showing that higher levels of testosterone and cortisol led to riskier behavior. The determined multilateral approach reversed the precipitate decline in world trade, and many observers in consequence concluded that global and European institutions were successful, and that “the system worked”. The One Belt, One Road project launched in 2013 aimed at linking the Eurasian landmass with the sea but also new land links, and China sponsored railroad investment that brought Europe and Asia closer together.
