Europe's Return to Power Politics

The European Union has grown to the point where it constitutes a market powerhouse but cannot function as a coherent geopolitical entity. So after 60 years of integration, Europe has returned to the style of power politics that reigned before World War II.

Key Analysis
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin speaks during the European Union summit in Brussels
DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin speaks during the European Union summit in Brussels
Ireland: Round Two for the Lisbon Treaty
December 12, 2008 2030 GMT
Ireland is aiming to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. [more]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Limoges, France on June 26
France, EU: A More Protective Europe
June 27, 2008 2054 GMT
France will assume the European Union’s rotating presidency July 1. The French agenda is bold and broad, but the only policy areas where real change is likely are immigration and energy. [more]
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy
European Union: France Prepares to Set a New Course
June 16, 2008 2056 GMT
Now that Ireland has rejected the European Union's latest attempt at a governing treaty, France will take the lead in redefining the bloc, and it will do so by further loosening the union's internal bonds. [more]
Serbian Vice PM Bozidar Djelic and EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn
European Union: The Enlargement Slowdown
June 16, 2008 1828 GMT
An institutional crisis within the European Union over the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty will make it extremely difficult for the enlargement process to continue at its current pace, if at all. [more]
Farmers in Dublin Protest the Lisbon Treaty on April 17
Ireland: The Treaty of Lisbon Meets a Skeptical Electorate
May 6, 2008 2041 GMT
Ireland’s 45,000-member Technical Engineer and Electrical Union criticized the European Union's Treaty of Lisbon on May 5 over concerns about workers’ rights. [more]
Silvio Berlusconi Celebrates His Party's Victory
Italy: Elections and a Possible Better Fit for Italy
April 15, 2008 2319 GMT
All the votes are tabulated in Italy’s April 13-14 snap election, and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s bloc has emerged with a solid majority. (with Stratfor map) [more]
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