Far better to serve in heaven than reign in hell : Malta's logic of relating to the European Union

Abstract

Milton's Satan serves conveniently as a symbol of defiant nationalism. He is the prototype rebel against global hegemonic forces; he is bent on sovereignty, freedom, and delinking strategies, at any cost. Entrusted with economic planning in Chaos, he would no doubt have sought self-sustained growth and viability. But for all his superhuman flamboyance, Milton's cosmic villain is seeped in compassionate irony, a mock-heroism that results from me blindness of being ostracized from God Almighty. Independence is proudly claimed but nevertheless sounds hollow. It is a reckless initiative, an expression not of gain, but of loss of stature and in the quality of life.