A New Normal for Europe

Jan Techau, director of the European Carnegie Center, writes about a new normality emerging for Europe. His article is reprinted at the RealClearWorld website. For readers who have warm feelings for the collective old countries, I recommend his article. Here is a choice morsel:

The new normal also means that the presence of Europe's great external postwar balancer, the United States, will be less strongly felt in Europe's politics. But Europeans still yearn for the great subsidizer. (snip) They all hope in vain. Because Europe's new state of affairs also means that European countries will have to become normal nations in foreign policy. After two generations of lavish subsidies, they will finally be forced to foot a larger part of the bill. This will likely be the most painful element of the new normal. 

Imagine ... a European country with an actual military and navy ... expensive but it may help with the perennially high unemployment. Those "lavish subsidies" came courtesy of American taxpayers.