The French Politik: Take a stroll through this piece on the forces at work within and without the EU over Iraq. (No surprise that Robert Lane Greene, who wrote the piece, is a member of the Connie's staff, where the most level-headed analysis of the EU is found.) I think the fracas over Iraq is France's trial balloon for counterweight status. If they can pull this off, they'll have cemented their position as top dog in Europe. The EU, if it ever gets rolling, has the capacity to equal or exceed the US economy. (Of course, if the French get their way, the united economy will be so hampered by regulation that it will never seriously challenge the US for global primacy.) In addition, I think Greene is astute in pointing out that Eastern Europe has been told to shut up before, sometimes at the point of a gun. Likewise, it has seen central planning up close. Having Paris tell them to shut up and get in line is not going to make Czechs or Poles fold up like a cheap lawn chair, nor is it going to endear them to the idea of a French-dominated central economy. Perhaps Chirac couldn't pass up this opportunity to strut (or perhaps, as has been speculated, he's forced to oppose the Iraq invasion because of past corruption), but he's seriously overplaying his hand.