Be afraid…
If you happen to see the new President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, sharing a platform with Obama, Putin, and Wen Jiabao, please don’t make the mistake of imagining he has a mandate to speak for Europe. He has the least democratic credentials of them all. And if you see ‘Baroness Caroline Ashton’ making out that she’s the European equivalent of Hilary Clinton, know likewise that she is part of an administration which wasn’t in any way elected by the people.
You may love or loathe Obama: at least quite a lot of Americans voted for him, and knew roughly what they were getting. The would-be leader of Europe was chosen over dinner by the heads of 27 European Governments - I guess the analogous situation would be having the governors of the American states choosing the POTUS.
And evidently, this new leader of Europe has bigger goals: He hailed 2009 as â??the first year of global governanceâ??
I have a sinking feeling about this.