1.) One of these thematic shapes was the ‘European Model”. This model was “a mix of Social Democratic and Christian Democratic legislation” in the “European Community and its successor Union” (Judt 7-8) that created unity in Europe. It emerged after a weak and tired Europe that was tired of war-torn states. They did not want their lives to be as bad as they had become during and after the war. Europeans began to hope for societies that would focus more on the happiness of the citizens than European or world domination. This resembles welfare states that focuses on the improvement and wellness of its citizens.
2.) The reduction in extreme right and lefts was a change in political topography. During both world wars there were extreme left and right political parties. From the Nazis in Germany to the Soviets in the USSR. Though after the World War I and World War II Europe saw the destructive nature of these extremist parties. The result of this shift was a more liberal society were “abortions and contraception were almost universally available” (Judt 785) in Western Europe. It was also seen that no longer could “publicly engaged intellectuals play their once-crucial role in mobilizing opinions at large” as seen in the Atlantic rift of 2003 (Judt 786). The tired Europe was no longer interested in any extreme ideologies that had previously led to the destruction of the World Wars.
3.) The post-national ideals were focused on the betterment of a society internally. Though, some began to see that to better their societies they must prevent immigration from other societies that they viewed was dangerous to the stability of their own. This is seen in the posters which show how nationalistic political parties struggled with the idea of immigrants, especially Muslims and people of middle eastern descent. They depicted them poorly with one having a man screaming that says “Islam and Terror” as if they are synonymous while the other showed a family flying ‘home’ on a flying carpet implying that Germany couldn’t be home for individuals depicted as Muslim or of middle eastern descent as if they belong somewhere else because of these qualities. Though post-national ideas may desire for the betterment of a society, they can be taken to an extreme nationalistic level that becomes consumed by an ethnicity or religion qualifying someone’s level of citizen.