Timothy Garton Ash: Why this war in Afghanistan will redraw the map of Europe: increased stature for Britain as intermediary between Europe and the U.S.; launchpad for Russian entry to the European community; acceleration of the eastward expansion of NATO but, potentially, a slowing down in elaboration of the European Union; decreased attention to the Balkans; “a European foreign policy? One can argue this both ways. On the one hand, the Islamic and Arab worlds are Europe’s ‘near abroad’, and we have perhaps 20 million Muslims in Europe. So there is a vital European interest in addressing the underlying causes of the discontents on which terrorism feeds, whether among Palestinians, Kurds or Algerians. This crisis should therefore catalyse co-ordinated action in the Middle East and North Africa. On the other hand, the left-Gaullist idea that Europe should have an approach very different from that of the US, and perhaps even see itself as a rival superpower, must seem less plausible and palatable at a time when the West as a whole is under attack.” The Independent UK