THERE IS NO EUROPE EITHER:

Belgium: Europe's canary in a coal mine?: The country's identity crisis doesn't bode well for the EU's non-nationalist experiment (Jonah Goldberg, October 9, 2007, LA Times)

Primarily split between Dutch-speaking Flemings and French-speaking Walloons, Belgium was formed as a constitutional monarchy where the non-French speakers were mostly treated as second-class citizens. Even today, 177 years later, there are no national figures or national political parties. Each party represents its own ethnic, linguistic or regional enclave. But, although the Flemish majority is somewhat more prosperous, the Walloons have a perceived stranglehold on Belgian politics. One is tempted to joke that it's an Iraq with better weather and waffles.

But it isn't a mini-Iraq, and not just because they're not killing one another. It's more like a mini-European Union. In fact, that's the one thing everyone can agree on.

No country is more invested in the EU experiment than Belgium, whose capital, Brussels, is also the capital of the EU. If Belgium falls to sectarianism, what does that say about prospects for making Europe into a super-Belgium?

It says that nationalism is a more powerful solvent than transnationalism is an adhesive.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 9, 2007 7:00 PM