The situation in Europe now reminds me a lot of the situation of Italy and Germany before their own unifications: for external powers, it was easy enough to stoke up rivalries between the various statelets, and push even the most successful around. Without the EU, this is the future I see for us: as difficult as it can be to unite a continent which lacks a common language, the alternative is to become irrelevant on the world stage - and the world market.