One by one, the leaders of Europe’s three biggest immigration destinations have stepped up to solemnly repudiate a policy that has long ceased to exist. In recent months, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have let it be known that multiculturalism shall no longer be the continent’s doctrine of immigrant integration.
“The multicultural approach, saying that we simply live side by side and be happy about one another, utterly failed,” declared Merkel in a speech in October 2010.
“Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism, we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. We’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong,” said Cameron on February 2011.
Read the full article at foreignpolicy.com »
Read the article in French at slate.fr »
Read the article in Dutch at groene.nl »
*subscription required
Commentary
The Dis-Integration of Europe
March 28, 2011