A "United States of Europe", Winston Churchill proposed in 1946, could "as if by
a miracle transform" that "turbulent and mighty continent". "In this way only",
he continued, "will hundreds of millions of toilers be able to regain the simpl
e joys and hopes which make life worth living". Today, nearly seventy years late
r, over 500 million people live in the member states of the European Union a gre
ater number than in any other political community save for China and India. The
currency of the Union, the euro, is used in economic transactions world-wide. Ye
t the EU is mired in the greatest crisis of its history, one that threatens its
very existence as an entity able to have an impact upon world affairs.
