The Modest Superpower -- NewsweekHow the financial crisis could leave Europe even stronger than America.
It's become all fashionable in Washington, Moscow, and Beijing these days to dismiss Europe as an aging continent in terminal decline. A June report from a Moscow think tank close to the Kremlin described Europe as weak in the face of Russian might, and last year's U.S. National Intelligence Council assessment of global power shifts called the EU "a hobbled giant" plagued by "internal bickering."
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My Comment: For the past 500 hundred years .... with the exception of the past 70 years .... European nations have always been the dominant power in the world.
Will Europe reassert itself on the international scene .... I am skeptical. Europeans are more focused on their own continent, and are not focused on becoming involved in international affairs. Issues like Afghanistan are an exception, but for the moment Europe is more than satisfied with its minor role on the world scene.
Can this altitude change in the future .... I cannot say with certainty that it will but I will not be surprised if it does .... and if it does it will result in a seismic political realignment that will affect everyone.