Europe is suffering its worst crisis since the second world war, says Jean-Claude Trichet, the outgoing head of the European Central Bank. Yet instead of De Gaulle and Churchill, today’s continent is led by an altogether blander bunch.
Angela Merkel, the most important politician in Europe, is a byword for dullness ("zero charisma, zero glamour,” as Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post once put it, and she meant it as a compliment).
Opinion polls suggest that next spring Nicolas Sarkozy—French president, husband of supermodel Carla Bruni, who told David Cameron to "shut up" at the weekend—will be bumped from office by a stodgy Socialist, François Hollande: a man who has been doing his best to project an image of earnest competence. As Jonathan Fenby writes in this month's Prospect, the 2012 presidential election will reveal the true extent of the malaise in France's politics.
Meanwhile in Spain, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who dragged his conservative country into the 21st century with gay-marriage legislation and abortion reforms, looks certain to lose power in November's elections to the opposition leader Mariano Rajoy. Rajoy looks as if he’d be more at home running Bedfordshire county council.
Poland, once famous for its fruity politicians, has just re-elected the slick-but-cautious Donald Tusk to office. Even Silvio Berlusconi cannot be long for this world: an increasing number of Italians are calling for his replacement by a government of "technocrats."
There is still fun to be found on Europe’s periphery: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, is turning himself into a modern-day Nasser, while the evergreen Vladimir Putin is set to take over from the wooden Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin. But these are not, perhaps, the best role models.
Angela Merkel, the most important politician in Europe, is a byword for dullness ("zero charisma, zero glamour,” as Anne Applebaum of the Washington Post once put it, and she meant it as a compliment).
Opinion polls suggest that next spring Nicolas Sarkozy—French president, husband of supermodel Carla Bruni, who told David Cameron to "shut up" at the weekend—will be bumped from office by a stodgy Socialist, François Hollande: a man who has been doing his best to project an image of earnest competence. As Jonathan Fenby writes in this month's Prospect, the 2012 presidential election will reveal the true extent of the malaise in France's politics.
Meanwhile in Spain, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who dragged his conservative country into the 21st century with gay-marriage legislation and abortion reforms, looks certain to lose power in November's elections to the opposition leader Mariano Rajoy. Rajoy looks as if he’d be more at home running Bedfordshire county council.
Poland, once famous for its fruity politicians, has just re-elected the slick-but-cautious Donald Tusk to office. Even Silvio Berlusconi cannot be long for this world: an increasing number of Italians are calling for his replacement by a government of "technocrats."
There is still fun to be found on Europe’s periphery: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, is turning himself into a modern-day Nasser, while the evergreen Vladimir Putin is set to take over from the wooden Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin. But these are not, perhaps, the best role models.
