EUROPA: THE PAST AND FUTURE OF AN IDEA

To consider Europe is to recall St. Augustine’s reflections on time: we know what it is until we start to think about it. A continent that is not truly a continent, Europe is equally problematic as a civilization—or, perhaps, a bundle of civilizations. And those forces that have traditionally given Europe its claim to unity may today be waning, even as 15 European nations work to build a stronger Union.