Pursuit of a purpose
Tony Barber, Financial Times, 24.02.2010
Quote
Lewis Namier once called 18th-century England "an aristoc racy tempered by riots". A year ago, it seemed that the late historian's pithy description applied just as accurately to the European Union. Beleaguered elites in Brussels looked on as demonstrators fought police in Greece, Latvia and Lithuania, anti-foreigner strikes broke out in the UK and "boss-nappings" - kidnappings of managers by workers - swept France.
How do matters stand today? The worst fears of ever-rising unrest in recession-hit European cities have not materialised. [...]
"Citizens and political, economic and intellectual elites have lost
interest and confidence in the European project, which today suffers
from a lack of internal dynamism and a loss of strategic orientation,"
says Janis Emmanouilidis of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre
think-tank. [...]
For the entire article see here.
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