By the name of Europe
Pierre Nabhan, co-founder of Joosnabhan, explores why Europe must become its own brand once again.
At the 2026 World Economic Forum, voices from Mark Carney to Emmanuel Macron rose to state with brutal clarity that the world has changed. The balance of economic and strategic power is being redrawn. In this shifting order, Europe must redefine its place. “It’s time to move from rhetoric to reality,” declared Mark Carney. That is the challenge.
Europe, a name that already tells a story
From the Greek Eurṓpē, derived from eurús (wide) and ôps (eye, face), the word literally means “the one with the wide gaze.” Rarely has a name so perfectly captured the reason to be of a continent and its people. To look far, to embrace wide, to think collectively. But like a brand gone silent, Europe has let that meaning fade. The name endured, the ambition less so.
Despite its brand symbols (its flag, its single currency, the Schengen area, its institutions), Europe’s core ideals of democracy are fracturing under internal tensions and competing interests.
The real danger is not just the opposition of anti-Europeans, but the disorientation of Europeans themselves, no longer looking in the same direction. A reminder that nations, and now continents, are brands with their own visions, competing with one another. These soft powers, increasingly drawn toward “hard power” and conflicts, have understood this well. Which vision will prevail?
Europe to be reinvented
Europe is dead, long live Europe. More than a continent, it is a political and cultural project to be renewed. To give meaning back to the word ‘Europe’ is to relearn how to defend its identity without retreat, to affirm sovereignty, to rebuild trust. These principles of the Europe brand, a brand that seems to be stirring again, face one of its age-old limits, its need for leadership.
It is a reminder that behind every great brand stands a great leader who sets and maintains direction. Should Europe create, or restore, space for those capable of embodying and inspiring it? A person, a state, the question remains open.
From the mythic princess Europa to today’s 450 million Europeans, the European spirit lives only through men and women who look outward, who dare, decide and unite.
Early signs?
Before the united front of Europeans over tensions in Greenland and the possible activation of the anti-coercion instrument, the world took notice. The Dow Jones fell 2.3%, the S&P 500 1.8% and the Nasdaq 2.1%. New tariffs were paused for countries that sent troops to Greenland. The Europe brand, and Europeans, awoke, showing they can be a genuine counterforce.
But to oppose is not enough. What does Europe stand for? A brand cannot exist only in reaction to another one, it must offer a vision that moves people. Just as Evian stands for youth and Volvo for safety, what does Europe stand for?
Like a brand rediscovering its voice, Europe must reaffirm what it truly is: a living, demanding, human project. Not an institutional facade, but an idea in motion, capable of inspiring, protecting and leading.
A brand that creates preference among others, from the US to China. What begins now is not a time for nostalgia, but a time for leadership. Leadership that opens Europe’s wide eyes, and those of Europeans, toward an uncharted horizon still to be named and chosen.
