New Belgium has been the focus of media attention recently, being portrayed as epitomizing the failures of Western Europe to fight terrorism and ensure national security goes unbreached. Their relaxed weapons regulations have created a hub for the illegal arms trade, the incompetencies of their local policing has been internationally recognised for decades (e.g. with the Marc Dutrox incident), and now their inability to implement sufficient counter-terror mechanisms has arguably played a central role in the Paris attacks, whilst even more recently threats of terrorism ended with the New Years celebrations happening in Brussels.

So why is Belgium so incapable? From 2011-12 Belgium went 598 days without a government forming, surely their is some massive underlying problem at the heart of the country that has made their political system such an incompetent, bumbling, bureaucratic mess. Could it be that national consciousness really is an important prerequisite for creating civil societies? Could it be that language, history, culture, tradition and identity are more necessary than the postmodern post-national mindset makes out?

Because Flee lives there, and because Flee is a brony.