Playing for time while losing

Just five days ago, the new European Commission came into office. In the six months since the European Parliament elections, France has fallen into political uncertainty, Germany is shuffling towards early elections, Donald Trump is returning to the White House, Putin is holding fast in Ukraine and making new threats, the Middle East is on fire, China is beginning to leverage its dominance in manufacturing and its control of materials critical for the "green economy," while immigration, the climate crisis and political dead-ends weigh on ever more countries. The European Union has multitudes of enemies, inside and outside its borders, united by their mutual desire to see it break apart. The known problems are big and dangerous. Trump's triumphant restoration will multiply them. The Europeans are not blind to the dangers, as the recent reports by former Italian prime ministers Mario...