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The Garden and the Jungle: How the West Sees the World
An award-winning French journalist’s far-ranging critique of Europe’s betrayal of universal values and equal rights as war and right-wing populism spread worldwide, with a new introduction for U.S. readers.
“Europe is a garden…It is the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity, and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build…Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.” This was how Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, characterized the situation in 2022, several months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and one year before Israel’s war against Gaza.
Europe has a singular image of itself and of the world. It persists in thinking of itself as the cradle of civilization, the incarnation of good and justice, and in believing itself to be threatened by a global environment where savagery, darkness, and evil reign. Clinging to this fantasy inherited from a colonial past, it is lost and misguided, turning its back on the values of humanism and equality to which it nevertheless claims to adhere. As long as Europe and, with it, the political West, have not renounced their desire for power, there will unite against them the resentment of all the peoples who have had the bitter experience of their domination over the last five centuries. Because the “jungle” is Europe’s own creation, produced by the blindness of conquest and exploitation.
This powerful essay is an invitation to rebuild a Europe that is truly concerned about the fragility of the world and of life, with an acute awareness of the perils that threaten humanity.
“Europe is a garden…It is the best combination of political freedom, economic prosperity, and social cohesion that the humankind has been able to build…Most of the rest of the world is a jungle, and the jungle could invade the garden.” This was how Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, characterized the situation in 2022, several months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and one year before Israel’s war against Gaza.
Europe has a singular image of itself and of the world. It persists in thinking of itself as the cradle of civilization, the incarnation of good and justice, and in believing itself to be threatened by a global environment where savagery, darkness, and evil reign. Clinging to this fantasy inherited from a colonial past, it is lost and misguided, turning its back on the values of humanism and equality to which it nevertheless claims to adhere. As long as Europe and, with it, the political West, have not renounced their desire for power, there will unite against them the resentment of all the peoples who have had the bitter experience of their domination over the last five centuries. Because the “jungle” is Europe’s own creation, produced by the blindness of conquest and exploitation.
This powerful essay is an invitation to rebuild a Europe that is truly concerned about the fragility of the world and of life, with an acute awareness of the perils that threaten humanity.
- GenresNonfiction
176 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2025
1 person is currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Edwy Plenel
74 books27 followersEdwy Plenel, de son nom complet Hervé Edwy PlenelNote 1,1, est un journaliste politique français, né le 31 août 1952 à Nantes. Il est directeur de la rédaction du quotidien Le Monde de 1996 jusqu'à sa démission en novembre 2004. Critiqué en interne et en désaccord avec les orientations prises par le journal et le groupe dirigés à l'époque par Jean-Marie Colombani et Alain Minc, il est licencié le 31 octobre 2005 après avoir travaillé vingt-cinq ans dans la rédaction du quotidien. Il a depuis cofondé le site Mediapart, journal payant accessible sur Internet, qui a ouvert le 16 mars 2008, et qui a joué un rôle-clé dans la révélation des affaires Woerth-Bettencourt, Cahuzac et Aquilino Morelle.
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October 20, 2025
In the current state of world, there is a rage that fills up my bones. The world is changing, and history is being repeated right before our eyes.
The rise of the far right and fascism puts the entire fate of humanity at risk, and sometimes I feel like nothing will get better.
The least I, or anybody can do is read, and stay educated with what’s going on in the world and how Europe’s history of colonialism, imperialism and apartheid has negatively affected third world countries.
This book attempts to bring Europe and the entire West to shame, by detailing their atrocities and brutal actions done throughout history.
It brings contexts to the ongoing wars between Israel and Palestine which has been going on for over 50 years, and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Like the book says on page 28,
“𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬.”
This book is required reading for me. It’s cutthroat, direct and chilling, every page was an eye opener for me.
It’s written as a long form essay, sharing information on the British Empire, The French Empire and how much both empires colonised Africa, and how France colonised Algeria for over 100 years, until Algeria gained independence in 1962.
Sometimes it feels overwhelming and devastating reading the history of my ancestors, reading the history of the racism, discrimination and oppression that black people and other people of colour have faced for centuries.
We saw the most dangerous impact of the far right during Nazi Germany and the rise of Hitler. We learn about it in school, and it’s written about in our history books of the genocide the Nazis committed against the Jews.
So why do we deny the genocide that Israel is doing to Palestine? Instead of calling Israel out for their atrocities, the West and the United Nations stand behind Israel, giving them money to fund this disaster.
The entire West and The United Nations are complicit, and are just as guilty.
I am terrified of the future, of the political leaders of this country and I fear it will become even worse, until we hear those dreadful sirens plaguing our entire world, yet another war putting the entire fate of humanity at risk.
We must prevent this.
some of my favourite quotes:
“𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦. 𝐈𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤.”
“𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟏, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐰.”
“𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧.”
The rise of the far right and fascism puts the entire fate of humanity at risk, and sometimes I feel like nothing will get better.
The least I, or anybody can do is read, and stay educated with what’s going on in the world and how Europe’s history of colonialism, imperialism and apartheid has negatively affected third world countries.
This book attempts to bring Europe and the entire West to shame, by detailing their atrocities and brutal actions done throughout history.
It brings contexts to the ongoing wars between Israel and Palestine which has been going on for over 50 years, and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Like the book says on page 28,
“𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐤𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐈𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬.”
This book is required reading for me. It’s cutthroat, direct and chilling, every page was an eye opener for me.
It’s written as a long form essay, sharing information on the British Empire, The French Empire and how much both empires colonised Africa, and how France colonised Algeria for over 100 years, until Algeria gained independence in 1962.
Sometimes it feels overwhelming and devastating reading the history of my ancestors, reading the history of the racism, discrimination and oppression that black people and other people of colour have faced for centuries.
We saw the most dangerous impact of the far right during Nazi Germany and the rise of Hitler. We learn about it in school, and it’s written about in our history books of the genocide the Nazis committed against the Jews.
So why do we deny the genocide that Israel is doing to Palestine? Instead of calling Israel out for their atrocities, the West and the United Nations stand behind Israel, giving them money to fund this disaster.
The entire West and The United Nations are complicit, and are just as guilty.
I am terrified of the future, of the political leaders of this country and I fear it will become even worse, until we hear those dreadful sirens plaguing our entire world, yet another war putting the entire fate of humanity at risk.
We must prevent this.
some of my favourite quotes:
“𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦. 𝐈𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤.”
“𝐀𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟏, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟑 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐰.”
“𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐝. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐚, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧.”
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