European dysfunction

As France starts assuming the presidency of the European Union for the next six months, doubt linger as to whether Nicolas Sarkozy will be able to deal with Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty given his “cowboy” style and his propensity for taking unilateral action and saying things without thinking too much about their consequences. In my view however, Europe is a tough nut to crack because its design is profoundly dysfunctional; it operates as a hybrid of intergovernmentalism and supranationalism. In certain areas it depends upon agreement between the member states. However, it also has supranational bodies, able to make decisions without the agreement of members. You see, it can’t work fully unless its members begin to tone down their national allegiance and their individual sense of patriotism. In my view, only a truly supranational Europe can speak with a united voice, have a common foreign policy, a unified defense, and except for the Euro, its (almost) common currency, it can’t really stand tall in today’s world. Anything else is a shattered piece of glass with no structural strength and no ability to reflect genuine leadership.