On the Brink

What if the Euro Falls Apart?

With every passing day, Europe’s monetary union inches closer to meltdown. And some countries—energized by “Europskeptic” parties--could not be more excited. But Timothy Garton Ash warns they should be careful what they wish for: “As Bosnia in the 1990s showed, Europeans can revert to barbarism, both within and across existing state frontiers, as quickly as anyone else.” The years under the euro have been marked by missteps and dysfunction, but they have also seen the continent as united, democratic and free as it has ever been. If Europe lets the union fail, it will lose once and for all. “Take the Euroskeptic path, and the Chinese will be laughing all the way to the bank—which by then, they’ll probably own anyway.”