Laurent LADOUCE
Executive summary: Upon entering the modern world and under the reign of Charles Quint, Spain adopts the motto “More ultra” (later) which is still on the Spanish flag. It will be the driving force behind the construction of the Atlantic world. By crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and then the Strait of Magellan, Europeans move the civilization of the Mediterranean world to an Atlantic hegemony world dominated first by the Spanish and Portuguese, before the stage entry of the Dutch, English and French. The motto “More ultra” will justify the conquest of territories and the construction of colonial empires, and above all implies a radical project to transform the human condition, initially limited to elites and which will eventually concern every human being in his daily life. Violent revolutions followed each other, presented as the only means of overcoming them towards better times. This vision triumphed after 1945 and even more so after the Cold War, and the Atlantic world seemed to win the whole line. But in recent decades, the challenge has been total, coming from the rest of the world, but also from a deep doubt that undermines Western culture, the plan to change the – human beings who could turn into nightmares destroying the sensitivity and imagination of the Homo Atlanticus, which constituted its ascendant. A cultural war divides the unity of the Atlantic world: should we embark on new annexations and conquests, or rather focus on a new Reformation and a new Renaissance?
Keywords: Atlantic, Homo Atlanticus, Europe, West, Human condition, Plus ultra, Exceedance, Imaginary, Civilization, Spain, Holland, France, British Empire, Colonial Empires.
Abstract: Upon entering the modern world and under the sign of Charles V, Spain adopted the motto This would be the driving . Research fellow for the Fédération pour la Paix Universelle (FPU) and director of the “culture-and-peace.org” website. Can the Atlantic world still surpass itself? geostrategic No. 69 • September 2025 force behind the construction of the Atlantic world. By crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and then the Strait of Magellan, Europeans moved civilization from the Mediterranean world to a world of Atlantic hegemony, initially dominated by the Spanish and Portuguese, before the arrival of the Dutch, English, and French. The motto Violent revolutions followed one after another, presented as the only way to move forward to better times. This vision triumphed after 1945 and even more so after the Cold War, and the Atlantic world then seen to have won all the way. But for several decades now, the questioning has been total, coming from the rest of the world, but also from a professed doubt that undermines Western culture, the project of modifying the human condition being able to transform into a nightmare detroying the sensitivity and the imagination of Homo Atlanticus, which constituted its ascendancy. A cultural war fractures the unity of the Atlantic world: should we embark on new annexations and conquests, or rather concentrate on a new Reformation and a new Renaissance?
Keywords: Atlantic, Homo Atlanticus, Europe, West, Human condition, Plus ultra, Surpassing, Imaginary, Civilization, Spain, Holland, France, British Empire, Colonial empires.
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