JUST WAIT'LL THE SHOOTING STARTS:

Europe to America: We Surrender! (Eric Le Boucher, Feb. 19, 2009, Slate)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Click image to expand.French President Nicolas SarkozyWe've known all along that the first test of the European Union would be a recession. And now we have one—a great recession, perhaps even a depression. But the union isn't rising to the occasion. As the crisis unfolds, Europe is caught up in small-time squabbles. As unemployment grows, politicians do nothing but point fingers.

It's as if the European Union, in the middle of a war, had decided to lay down its arms. Helpless and divided, we rely on others—on the United States and China—to overcome the crisis. Each member country can think only of saving its own banks, its own auto industry; there's no comprehensive plan of action. We're patching up holes, waiting around for America to save the day with a substantive solution. Just like 1944.

Fortunately, only the Realists take Europe seriously and no one takes the Realists seriously.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 19, 2009 8:10 PM