From Bloomington to Brussels

The Delegation of the European Commission in Washington, D.C., recently made a welcome contribution to IU -- a $351,000 grant. The money will establish a European Union Center of Excellence. We feel this move merits our applause as it expands the resources of an already well-developed international studies program at IU.\nThese additional resources will allow for increased understanding of European affairs, which cannot but help those political scientists, economists, sociologists and linguists in training here. The information gained will be of immense value. \nAfter all, the "European model" is well worth studying. It has built, in the political commentator Robert Kagan's phrase, a "postmodern paradise." Based on integration and cross-border cooperation, the European Union aims to eventually turn Europe's highly educated and productive population of 457 million people into a great world power. \nAt the beginning of the European project, it was believed that high taxes would fund more government programs and richer entitlements. For decades it has been thought that this recipe would engender a dominant new continent able to outpace the United States. Some Belgian bureaucrats and Sorbonne academics still think it will. And indeed, the successes of this widespread integration have been considerable. Since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the European umbrella has expanded rapidly and could soon reach as far as Turkey. But this expansion has not come without a price. \nThe failure to assimilate immigrants into their new surroundings is by now clear -- one issue the French and British can finally agree upon. \nCombine this factor with the demographic time bomb now ticking. According to The Economist, if the present trend continues, America's economy could be more than twice Europe's by 2050. Today, the median age of Americans is 35.5; in Europe it is 37.7. By 2050, the American median age will be 36.2. In Europe it will be 52.7.\nThis decline threatens Europe's proudest boast: its lavish social welfare model. Europe is still a vigorous continent with high means of production. But it is now caught in a spiral of rising taxes and falling employment, especially in Western Europe, although exceptions do exist, \nAs these problems grow more acute, all Americans should be attuned to their potential international effects, to understand what is working and what isn't. It is worthy that IU should launch a broad program to heighten understanding of the European Union; in an increasingly globalized world, the EU affects us all.