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| Europe |
| Victory Before Battle: The U.K. Presidency (Stratfor) |
| 2005-07-06 |
| No link (little freebie from Stratfor); long, *definitively* needs to be p.49-ed. By Peter Zeihan The process of integration for the European Union has always been on a two-steps-forward, one-step-back kind of program, but recent setbacks mean that this time is different. Following the failures of two key referendums on the draft EU constitution, the Union has lost public confidence, the ratification process has been suspended indefinitely, the organization lacks a budget, leaders of key states are bickering like children, and the institutional framework of the Union has all the beauty, grace and dexterity of a Frankenstein's monster -- sans lightning. Into this milieu comes the United Kingdom -- that most euroskeptic member of the 25-state union -- which took the six-month rotating presidency July 1. Conventional wisdom tells us that British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- like other EU presidents before him -- will fail at all of his declared initiatives, and this time conventional wisdom holds water. What this logic does not include, however, is the fact that London already has won the fight over the future of Europe. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #2 Does Stratfor invest in bullet (points)? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-07-06 13:46 |
| #1 Capsule summary: another French defeat without a shot fired. (snicker) |
| Posted by: Tom 2005-07-06 13:36 |