Information Related to "The Coming European Superpower"
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Many citizens of the United States are complacent with a sense of invulnerability. The end of the Cold War has created a sort of emotional isolationism. The average person is more concerned with his or her job, the price of gas and local school board activities than events unfolding on the world scene.
Television news reflects people's interests and lack of worldview, dedicating little time to covering happenings in Europe, Africa or the Far East. But the world is on the verge of major changes.
In fact, another superpower is forming on the European continent that is already challenging the United States both economically and politically.
The dream of a united Europe is an old one. The ancient Roman Empire created a network of roads, postal delivery and economic cooperation, merging cultures and religions across a vast area. For centuries the concept of Pax Romana-a peaceful, united empire enforced by Roman law-fired the imagination of many Europeans.
The Romans found that the strain of maintaining an empire stretching from Central Europe to North Africa, and from Britain to the Middle East, eventually proved unmanageable. Rome slowly fell into political, social and economic decay and was conquered by Germanic invaders. In A.D. 476 the Western Empire seemed to suffer a mortal wound, but the dream never completely died.
History has witnessed a number of attempts to reunite Europe's sundry peoples into one empire, several times by force of arms. Charlemagne, Napoleon and, in more recent times, Adolf Hitler have tried to resurrect a united Europe.
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Table of Contents that includes "The Coming European Superpower"
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