Many cultures around the world believe in a "flood myth": a tale set deep in the past, when a wrathfulVery angry. god sent a great flood to destroy human civilisationAny complex society, with advanced ways of living, working and organising group structure. E.g. The British civilisation. in response to its sins. This is found in the Middle East, India, and the Americas.

This idea of a flood sent to punish a sinful world has been on some people's minds this week as terrible floods ravage central Europe. So far 18 people have been killed by the delugeA large downpour of rain, from the Latin verb for wash away., caused by Storm Boris.¹

At the physical level, the storm is believed to be fuelled by climate breakdown, which is making extreme weather events much more common.²

But some see the floods as a metaphorWhen a word or phrase is used to describe something, but it is not literally true. for the decline of Europe.

Back in April, French president Emmanuel MacronThe current president of France, nicknamed "Jupiter" after the chief of the Roman deities for his top-down manner of governance. sounded the alarm: "Our Europe is mortal. It can die, and it all depends on our choices".³

Certainly Europe has waxed and waned over the centuries. Modern Europeans tend to trace the origins of their civilisation back to ancient GreeceAbout 2,500 years ago, Greece was one of the most important places in the world. Ancient Greeks lived all around the Mediterranean, not just in Greece..

The Roman EmpireLasting from 27BC to 476AD, the Roman Empire controlled regions around the Mediterranean in Europe, North Africa and Western Asia. then conquered much of northern Europe and spread its own culture throughout the continent. A pan-European civilisation was born.

By this time, however, Europe was not the centre of the world. That was the great empires of Asia, India and China.

This changed when Europeans made contact with, then colonisedTo move to a place and attempt to take it over, at the expense of any existing people., the Americas. Europe became rich and began to colonise the rest of the world, exporting its culture as it went.

As a result, Europe's influence on the world remains immense. Almost 30% of the planet speaks English, Spanish or French.⁴

Today, however, it is caught between two superpowers. It is economically dependent on China and militarily dependent on the USA. Meanwhile, the rise of the far right is eating it from within.

Is Europe dying?

Yes: Every civilisation has its time in the sun. Europe's time is over. It will once again become a poor backwater, fought over for influence by the US and China.

No: Floods destroy but they also allow rebirth. European leaders have a plan: integrate Europe into a single economy that can compete with the US and China. If they pull it off, they can create a tripolar world.

Or... There never was a single "Europe". Western and eastern Europe have completely different values and cultures. Britain is both of and not of Europe. To survive, Europe will first have to be created.