How the EU lost control of its southern border

The migration crisis in Ceuta has exposed a new reality in Europe’s relations with her southern neighbors The latest migration crisis in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta offers a revealing glimpse into the European Union’s changing relationship with the world beyond its borders. At the same time, it shows just how different today’s politics are from the future many imagined only a generation ago.On July 30, around 60,000 illegal migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta and, within hours, almost all of them had returned home. Such an episode would have been almost impossible to imagine in any previous era, but it belongs entirely to the political realities of our own time.Perhaps most apparent is that none of the parties involved emerges with much moral authority and nor do their actions resemble what we traditionally associate with responsible statecraft. Spain helped create the conditions for the crisis through policies that have made it easier to legalize migrants because there’s a widespread belief that Madrid’s Socialist government needs additional labor and, over time, new voters likely to support the political establishment. As right-wing and anti-establishment parties continue t...