Noted assholes

Noted asshole, Mark Leonard:

Europe's transformative power comes from its ability to reward reformers and withhold benefits from laggards.

How's that working out in the age of austerity? He is right in the sense that 'Europe' has certainly increased its institutional authority over Europe. And the talk of withdrawal seems to have receded since Greece defaulted and the world didn't end.  But to many Europeans this hardly looks like a recommending feature. Rather, the entire continent is now beholden to an institution that won't/can't do its job as the lender of last resort, and who have used this as leverage to make the working and middle classes suffer.

From a truly insufferable book: why europe will run the 21st century.

And for those who want more, from the jacket sleeve:

Europe only looks dead because it is seen through American eyes. But America's reach is shallow and narrow. It can bribe, bully, or impose its will anywhere in the world, but when its back is turned its potency wanes. Europe's reach is broad and deep, spreading its values from Albania to Zambia. It brings other countries into its orbit rather than defining itself against them, and once countries come under the influence of its laws and customs they are changed for ever.

Emphasis inexplicably in the original, although this is presumably more Fourth Estate, a division of HarperCollinsPublishers (emphasis also inexplicably in the original), than Leonard.

Thoughts that leap to mind:

1. Where the fuck is Albania? Oh I forgot: it's in Europe, not the incomparably more important 'Europe.'
2. "... rather than defining itself against them..." Does anyone else remember Turkey, and the delightful ugly that accompanied its fated efforts to join the club?
3. "...once countries come under the influence of its laws and customs they are changed for ever." No disagreement here. Or is he talking about 'Europe' again?

His new book is called What Does China Think? It is a "highly readable" 224 pages that YQ Magazine describes as a "detailed and investigative study on the Chinese psyche."