At the heart of the sea is a huge drama that can teach us the spirit of the time. Multiple sailboats sail on ten cruise ships, some carrying the Corona virus, stranded at sea after receiving a cold shoulder from the family of nations. Despite their plea for anchorage in their ports, they encounter walls in the form of states that render their faces blank. Surprisingly, this phenomenon is not unique to the sea and it spreads rapidly like the virus, striking the heart of the "old continent".

Such a sad drama is now taking place in the heart of Europe, after Italy's pleas for assistance from its Union neighbors were ignored. The absurdity is that in the EU Treaty (TFEU), which boasts solidarity as a supreme value, a clause is set to help in similar cases; Article 222 expressly states that if a Member State is the object of a natural disaster, the Union States shall assist it on the basis of the solidarity principle. But separate statements and deeds, and the words of the playwright Plautus - Homo homini lupus est - "man to man were wolf" seem to describe the phenomenon.

What can be deduced from the Italian case and Europe's behavior now, on the conduct of countries in international crises? Does the virus reveal the true face of the European Union, which, at the moment of truth, has chosen isolationism while ignoring the adversity of its membership, or does the virus reflect a broader process of global separatism?

In his iconic book "Whale," the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1679-1588) introduces the "natural right" theory of man to survive. Hobbes, who many consider to be one of the fathers of the realist approach in international relations and political science, argues that the "natural right" stems from a human's survival interest to do everything he can to preserve his life. Thus, in anarchic and all-out situations, the international arena functions as a competitive and separatist system in which "state to wolf state".

In contrast to the realistic approach that believes in separatism, a liberalist approach has emerged in Europe after the Cold War, which advocates principles of cooperation, mutual guarantee and the use of diplomatic tools to promote interests and resolve conflicts. This is the model that is supposed to drive European countries even in these difficult days. The Trump-led US, on the other hand, advocates realism and isolationism. But is President Trump, whose worldview is separatist, the exception? The preacher of solid values, is currently running the test as the last of the separatists, turning their backs on Italy's pleas, which may mark the beginning of the EU's declining decline, and even bring the West back to the era of separatist realism.

The Corona crisis also reveals the true DNA of states: those who excel in rhetoric and those who specialize in doing it. The Israeli DNA has proven itself in a long history of inter-state mutual guarantee, starting with Home Front Command missions and providing humanitarian aid to the people of Syria. It would make sense to assume that this DNA will be reflected in these tropical days as well.

Gadi Isaiah is a PhD student at London University and specializes in crisis research