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George Melloan of the WSJ is always worth reading. Until I read his 11/15 column (subs req'd) I couldn't think of a time I seriously disagreed with him. Consider this one: Melloan, arguing that most of the damage to European unity is self-inflicted and not America's fault, is right on target. But his conclusion is way off:

"It would be foolish of Americans to think that all this turmoil in Europe somehow serves U.S. interests. Chaos in Europe has never worked that way before, it should be carefully remembered...There is nothing to be gained by the U.S. from watching cars burn in Paris, politicians fumbling in Berlin or mass demonstrations against the government in a Spain at risk of exploding into little pieces." Actually, there is.

For decades, many of these European governments have had no foreign policy except anti-Americanism and no domestic policy except socialism. If the product of those policies is failure -- as Melloan's examples prove redundantly it is -- maybe European voters could come to realize that anti-Americanism hurts them far more than it hurts us. Europe has sunk so far into intellectual decadence, there's little hope it can be revived by non-traditional means. In the Euro context, by means other than war or revolution.

topics:
Foreign Policy, Socialism, Oil