The United States of Europe

The European Union now comprises 25 nations and 450 million citizens, making it larger (in population) and richer (in GDP) than the United States--ot to mention that the EU has more trade than the United States and more votes on the UN Security Council and all other international organizations. This "New Europe" is determined to flex its political and economic muscle on the world stage. The continent has moved much further than most Americans realize toward the dream of a "United States of Europe," to borrow Winston Churchill's term. T. R. Reid, who has been the Washington Post's bureau chief in London, Tokyo, and Denver, lays out the ways in which the EU is positioning itself to be a global counterweight and second superpower, on equal footing with the USA--but without a superpower military. Americans have so far managed to ignore the geopolitical revolution under way across the Atlantic. Reid argues that they will soon take note. John O'Sullivan, editor of the National Interest, former special adviser to Margaret Thatcher, and a former columnist of both the Times of London and the Daily Telegraph, will comment.