The post 9/11 era in the West witnessed the development of a social misperception that associated the Middle East solely with terrorism. Even though in Europe fear of foreigners is nothing of the new sort, since back in the 1980s, Europe’s media portrayed immigrants as an economic threat taking jobs from locals and overloading welfare state provision, the new social stance has posed a greater threat to EU’s ability to effectively deal with internal crises.
Along with the normative argument that refugee lives are of equal importance, Cosmopolitanism has been slowly undermined by a radical shift in social attitudes within Europe. Unlike the innate social misperception that was fueled by terrorism-related national security policies, which limited individual freedom and promoted artificial fear, the modern shift towards right-wing extremism is a byproduct of declining moral values.
To be precise, if humans are taught that prejudice against racial or religious groups is immoral, it is not difficult to further propose standard liberal views on the topic of equality and liberty. However, it is not a good idea to encourage these people to label ‘irrational’ the intolerant people they are having trouble tolerating. Through the promotion of the idea that incoming refugees are from a religious and cultural perspective fundamentally intolerant, the systematic radicalization of European Liberalism has reached new heights. With Cosmopolitanism being the idea that all humans belong to a single community based on a shared morality, Constructivism effectively puts under question this ideology by pointing out that intolerance does not share morals. To rely on suggestions of sentiment rather than on the commands of reason is to think of powerful people gradually ceasing to oppress others.
From all of this it is essential to understand that European states have experienced the opposite of social progress and the actions of the masses within Europe can be equated to the historical dehumanization of Muslims in Bosnia. The lack of social unity undeniably has put under question Europe’s ability to deal with the refugee crisis.
