By Bill Sullivan
“When Americans hear the words ‘United States of Europe,’ we take notice, especially in Williamsburg,” said Colonial Williamsburg Foundation president Colin Campbell in opening yesterday’s four-day discussion on the long-term prospects for European unity. The Williamsburg-CSIS Forum got off to a slushy start on Monday with sessions delayed by winter weather.
Gordon Wood, professor of history emeritus at Brown University, delivered an opening talk on the origins of American federalism, pointing to an “extreme sense of localism” as its driving force in colonial America. From the 1643 New England Confederation to the Articles of Confederation drafted in 1776, Americans tended to create political authority from the bottom up, maintaining a healthy suspicion of larger government.
Wood pointed out that the adoption of the U.S. Constitution did not by itself create a unified nation. Americans continued to identify more strongly with their home states until the Civil War. The big question for Europe is what model of federalism the European Union will ultimately adopt as its member states navigate a long history of political, economic and cultural differences.
Heather Conley of CSIS moderated the day’s main session featuring what she termed “a dream team of economics.” Three speakers offered insights into the EU’s state of financial unity, after which nearly all the attendees weighed in with their own views.
The dialogue revealed a clear, if even, split between European optimists and skeptics. A session that will be webcast live Tuesday, “The Great European Debate: A United States of Europe?” promises a fuller airing of the issues.
On Monday, David Marsh, chairman and co-founder of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), anticipated difficulties for European unity following the recent economic crisis. “MAR—‘mutually assured resentment’—is the European reality,” he said.
Looking forward, “the Euro will limp on—not a great success, not a complete failure,” he added.
Wulfgang Munchäu, associate editor and european economic columnist for the Financial Times, advanced a similar view. “It was politics that got the euro together,” he said, but there is no economic inevitability to it. His prognosis was for “a euro of similar countries,” with the Eurozone holding together in the core countries and like-minded smaller members, “but I find it hard to see southern Europe staying.”
David Marsh makes a point while Heather Conley of CSIS and Ambassador Hormats look on. The Williamsburg-CSIS forum convened to discuss the state of European economic and political unity.
Robert Hormats, former undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment at the U.S. state department, spoke of a “historic strategic moment” of opportunity to cooperate on a forward-looking energy policy. He also suggested that economic growth had to be supported with attempts to alleviate social problems. “A cyclical problem becomes a structural problem” if left for too long, he said.
Marsh concluded the session memorably with a movie comparison to “August Osage County.”
The movie “has alcoholism, drug abuse, incest, unlawful marriage. It’s just like the Eurozone,” he said, where “Meryl Streep is the Germany just sitting home with her pills.”
Attendees will continue to discuss and debate just how viable or dysfunctional the EU is, with the conference continuing in Williamsburg until Wednesday afternoon. The forum concludes in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
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