It is unreasonable to talk of Europe as if it were one entity. It is not, in spite of the existence of the European Union, a free trade zone and a European currency. Europe consists of a series of sovereign and contentious nation-states. The European Union, which emerged from the European Economic Community (1957), is a schizophrenic entity. Its primary purpose is the creation of an integrated European economy. Simultaneously, it is seen as the preface to a federation of European countries, where national sovereignty is limited to local matters. Europe has not achieved this goal. It has failed to create a political constitution. The old European nationalisms continue to assert themselves. The French, for example, assert the right to protect their farmers from competition or the right not to honor treaties controlling their deficits. Talking of Europe as if it were a single entity, is illusory. (G. Friedman, The Nex 100 Years. A Forecast to the 21st Century, New York 2010).