Word: longing
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...arrangements is akin to rearranging the deck chairs of a sinking Titanic. The focus on internal challenges when the real threats are external is the first of three strategic errors Europe is making. One does not have to be a geopolitical genius to figure out where Europe's main long-term challenges are coming from. The E.U. may be a comfortable oasis of peace now, free of the threat of wars between member states. But an aging Europe cannot ignore the rising population and Islamic anger in North Africa and the Middle East, the divisions in the Balkans...
...greatest strategic challenge to Europe is the Islamic one. It exists within the body politic of many European societies. And the fastest-rising Islamic demographic is on Europe's doorstep. Europe should, therefore, see it in its long-term interest to defuse Islamic anger. Instead, it has shown moral cowardice on the Israel-Palestine issue, refusing even to admit that an unbalanced American policy will hurt European interests more than American interests. No major European leader has the moral courage to speak truth to power on this issue. (Read: "Halal Burgers? Another French Brouhaha over Islam...
...Over the long run, geography - when combined with economic shifts of power - determines destiny. America's interests in Asia are rising while its interests in Europe are declining. A growing Hispanic population will make Latin America more important. This is why the time has come for Europeans to think the unthinkable: the "natural" transatlantic partnership may someday come...
There are grumbles that the Obama Administration is ignoring Europe. Do you feel that? Not at all. I've just come back from a very long and very good meeting with Secretary of State Clinton in Washington. We've met three times, and often speak on the phone. And as an old parliamentarian, I'm always anxious to go to Capitol Hill when I am in Washington. We knew there was an issue for the President for timing, but he will be coming to Portugal for the NATO at the end of year. (See pictures from Obama's overseas trips...
...thing straight: Europe is a remarkably good place to live. Many of the E.U.'s member states are among the richest in the world. Workers in Europe usually enjoy long vacations, generous maternity leave and comfortable pension schemes. Universal health insurance is seen as part of the basic social contract. Europe is politically stable, the most generous donor of development aid in the world. Sure, taxes can be high, but most Europeans seem happy to pay more to the state in return for a higher - and guaranteed - quality of life. "The E.U. offers an attractive social, economic and political model...