Dominique Moisi: Northern Lights can show us the way

"The Northern Lights" was the title of a major painting exhibition in Paris a few years ago, dedicated to Scandinavian masterpieces. But "northern lights" may also correspond to what Europe, if not the entire West, needs nowadays: a political, economic, social and ethical model.

Indeed, in becoming the first centre-right leader in Sweden to win re-election in modern times, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt not only ended the centre-left's electoral hegemony in his country, but revealed that the modern Scandinavian model of governance is relevant across Europe.

At a time when budget cuts are the order of the day, political power in Scandinavia is modest and generally honest. Women play a major role in society and politics, and have for a long time. Scandinavian capitalism has traditionally been more humane, and social injustice, though it exists, is much less destructive than in southern Europe, for example.

To be sure, many other Europeans recognise these "virtues". But their natural reaction is to say, "It's not for us." In order to practise Scandinavian virtues, many believe, you must come from a cold-weather country with a small, homogeneous population that accepts high taxes without grumbling.

For Greeks, Italians and many French, evading taxes is a kind of national pastime, which some even perceive as a moral duty.

Of course, it is dangerous to idealise the Scandinavian model. Scandinavian countries have their share of problems, such as Denmark's significant xenophobic extreme right and Norway's occasional bouts of provincial puritanism.

But the difference between these countries and their southern counterparts in terms of economic performance, social climate and political culture are plainly visible. The weak and sick men of Europe - from Greece to Spain - are to be found in the south.

The Asian challenge, particularly from China, should encourage us to reconsider the validity of the "Scandinavian model". For the Chinese example represents for Europeans a dual opportunity to moralise our capitalism and reinvent our democratic practices. We cannot continue to preach to others values that we no longer practise with rigour.

To play the moral high ground, we must deserve it.

Moreover, we cannot simply wait for the Chinese "other" to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. Of course, these contradictions are real, but our main source of strength cannot be their weakness.

In this context, looking north is essential if we want to regain our universal attractiveness and defend our "democratic" comparative advantages.

There is more rigour and openness under the Northern Lights, and this is precisely the combination we need, with its mixture of modesty towards others and ambition towards ourselves.

• Dominique Moisi is the author of The Geopolitics of Emotion.