Der Spiegel presents a calm and rationale way of looking at the Failure of a Forced Marriage".
It was forced, of course, but if living in Europe for the past decade has taught me anything, its the lack of cultural overlap between the EU and the UK.
Perhaps that little 'bridge' from London allows francophiles to imbibe in the Parisian lifestyle and vice versa, who doesn't love London. And Paris.
And, one could argue the last gasp of the transatlantic financial boom allowed plenty of English to commute by investing in property in France but what is crystal clear is the cultural disconnect between England and continental Europe.
The English have a terrific understanding of history and yet understand so little in regards to modern Italian and German culture, not to mention central or eastern Europe. Whenever I ask a European about England, there's often a vague comment or nod, as if they're worlds apart. So much travel and yet too little trust. The lens through which the English look is created by different language and borders. This may sound obvious but the consequences can be profound.
Europe's just not that fussed, let alone surprised that London didn't come along but what does surprise is City of London betting their future on financial services.
Last time I looked cash, bouillon and agriculture were the future. We're watching oil rich countries re-emerge and shape and shift their social constructs within their own regions. The world is quietly dismissing America's superpower status and yes, America will continue to bomb their way into the Eurasia but war isn't the only game in town, just look at Pakistan and Russia, they can shut off access. Just like that. Suddenly all that cool war paraphernalia is worth very little if you can't reach your target.
My sense of history is less than but I'm surrounded by people who know history and history suggests is that whomever dominates Eurasia tends to dominate the world. Germany has strong ties with Russia and Russia is very much a part of China and Eurasia. A myriad of alliances are being created and re-shaped and rich oil countries re-emerge.
Nota Bene: Eurasia isn't emerging, it's simply re-emerging.
