PDF, 16th August 2016
Despite a warm summer, the mood in Europe today is one of pessimism ( नराशावाद). Optimism
about the future of the European Union (EU) has dipped sharply. Some Europeans have even
begun to think that the idea of Europe is in peril, and analysts ( व लेषक)warn that the Brexit
vote of June 23 could well turn out to be “a turning point in the history of modern Europe”.
The Brexit vote has, in a manner of speaking, been the tipping (गु त सु चना)point, and the root
cause for this pessimism. Europe’s spirit had already begun to flag, having to confront (सामना
करना)migration on a massive scale and handle successive terror attacks. Fears had already begun
to be expressed that this was altering the character of Europe, and putting the European model in
jeopardy. Brexit seemed to cap such sentiments.
Concerns about the threat posed by the Islamic State (IS) already verge on paranoia. The IS has
been highly successful in self-radicalising a sizeable percentage of Muslim youth residing in
Europe and to this has now been added more IS sympathisers among recent migrants. The July
14 Bastille Day attack on revellers in Nice, by a ‘lone wolf’ Tunisian attacker who employed a
truck to mow down 84 people and injure several more, the axe attack on a German train in which
four persons were seriously injured, and the knife attack at an Alpine resort in France — all
during the same month — have added to the feeling of insecurity, and contributed (सहयोग
दे ना)to a kind of ‘Islamophobia’.
It is possible to empathise (समानु भू त होना)with European concerns relating to their safety,
given the string of terror attacks reported from France, Belgium and Germany during the past
year and more. Since January 2015, France has witnessed three major terror attacks — the attack
on the Charlie Hebdo offices in January 2015 (killing 12 people), the series of terror attacks in
Paris in November (killing 129 people and injuring several hundreds more) and the latest
incident in Nice, in July this year. In March 2016, Brussels witnessed simultaneous
(समका लक)terror attacks, including one at Brussels airport (32 people were killed and more than
300 injured). Fears about another major attack in the near future are palpable, and the U.K.
anticipates that it could well be the next target.
Most European analysts, nevertheless, believe that it is the longer-term repercussions
( त या)of Brexit that will prove to be more damaging than current short-term concerns
relating to migration ( वास), terror and the Eurozone crisis. Brexit is being openly reviled in
many quarters as an irresponsible move, and as likely to have a qualitatively greater impact on
Europe than any event since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The timing of the Brexit vote seems to have come at a most inopportune (बेव त)moment.
Popular support for the EU had been diminishing for some time. It had reached a low point of
late. What the Brexit vote achieved was to alter the character and content of this discourse, and
effect a qualitative change for the worse. It threatened not merely the existence, but the very idea
of a European Union.
1. Pessimism (N) नराशावाद


Synonyms : cynicism / despair / gloom
Antonyms : joy / trust / cheer / optimism
2. Analyst (N) व लेषक

Synonyms : shrink / investigator / examiner / inquisitor / psychiatrist
3. Tip (V) गु त सु चना


Synonyms : dump / lean / spill / tilt
Antonyms : place / level / hide
4. Confront (N) सामना करना


Synonyms : accost / dety / repel / flout / scorn
Antonyms : avoid / evade / dodge / back down
5. Contribute (V) सहयोग दे ना / चंदा दे ना


Synonyms : add / pony up / share / devote
Antonyms : disagree / harm / receive / with hold
6. Empathize (V) समानु भू त होना


Synonyms : imagine / sympathize / feel for
Antonyms : mistake / misunderstand
7. Simultaneous (adj.) समका लक


Synonyms : coeval / dead heat / agreeing
Antonyms : divided / different / separate
8. Repercussions (N)


त
या /
त ेप
Synonyms : fallout / backlash / feedback
Antonyms : cause
9. Migration (N) वास


Synonyms : flight / transfer / exodus
Antonyms : idleness / inaction
10. In opportune (adj.) बेव त / असाम यक


Synonyms : contrary / ill- timed / mistimed
Antonyms : appropriate / suitable / auspicious
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