In this issue, we analyse the numerous consequences for Europeans and for the world from what could be called the Eurozone “coup d’Etat” within the EU. European governance has just taken place: a collective continental governance has just brutally emerged, ironically 65 years after the end of the Second World War.

Which is the EU country most critical of developments in the euro zone? For most of the past 20 years the U.K. has been the walk-away winner of the All-Comers Euro-Skeptic trophy. But this year a surprise challenge is coming up on the rails. Place your bets on Germany.

The Brazilian President has brokered a fuel swap deal which solves the Iranian nuclear question once and for all, proof of his diplomatic skills and a clear reminder to the international community how crisis management should be handled. The Russian federation is very much a part of this same approach.

US-European ties and Nato were destined to become weaker given the end of the cold war. The combination of structural economic flaws, political parochialism and military limits will accelerate this transatlantic drift. Europe’s moment as a major world power looks to be over.

These rising powers are knocking at the door of global governance frameworks and institutions. Are Western nations willing to let them in? The answer to this question may well determine where the southern democracies align in the future.

The Greek “rescue” package announced last weekend is dramatic, unprecedented and far from enough to stabilize the euro zone. This new program is honest enough to show why it is unlikely to succeed. Last week the European leadership panicked when it realized that the euro zone itself was at risk of a meltdown.

Having reviewed the existing situation, we have reaffirmed our commitment to contribute to regional peace and stability and underlined the importance of further developing the relations among our countries.

Greece is only the beginning. The world's leading economies have long lived beyond their means, and the financial crisis caused government debt to swell dramatically. Now the bill is coming due, but not all countries will be able to pay it.

The fact is that three years ago none of the countries now in or near crisis seemed to be in deep fiscal trouble. Then came the global financial crisis. Those inflows of capital dried up; revenues plunged and deficits soared; and membership in the euro, which had encouraged markets to love the crisis countries not wisely but too well, turned into a trap.

The debt crisis that caused Greece to ask for an international bailout on Friday has been attributed to many things, all economic. But there is a deeper cause for the Greek crisis that no one dares mention because it implies an acceptance of fate: geography.