In this article in the NYT, which I co-authored with Professor Brendan Simms, we make the bold (and idealistic) point that the Eurozone countries need to forge a complete Union to deal with the challenges (both economic and political) that they face in the 21st century. This message inspires me as I believe multilateralism and a greater union of the Western democracies is in fact the only way to deal with the world's many intractable political questions: from North Africa to Russia to China and elsewhere. This union of the West should not create antagonism with other powers, but rather help distribute economic gains more fairly and stabilize the transition to a multipolar world. Hope you enjoy the article.
If today’s euro-zone countries do not unite to face the Russian threat, Europe will cease to be a player on the world stage. Mired in debt and divided between a thriving North and underemployed South, Europe’s failure would establish it as a power vacuum — inviting aggression in its borderlands.... Constructing a democratic European superpower in the midst of a crisis won’t be easy, and the dangers of doing so “on the fly” were amply illustrated by Europe’s abysmal performance during the Bosnian crisis of the 1990s, when it required American muscle to deal with a third-rate military threat. The strategic challenge now posed by Russia is far greater, and the failure to confront it will have correspondingly grave consequences.