Foreign Affairs

The year began with the Arab Spring and ended with a dent in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s armor. There were big budget talks in Washington, and Europe watched its fiscal union teeter on the brink of collapse. Of course, U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden. Read  our 12 best online stories from 2011.

(c) Ib Ohlsson

Markets are reeling because Europe’s leaders have only offered up half-measures to resolve the crisis. Not until Berlin, Brussels, and Paris realize the fundamental flaw in their current approach — a lack of real political and economic integration across the eurozone — will there be confidence again. Read the full article.

As the eurozone’s biggest economy, it was Germany’s job to stabilize the system when the first signs of financial trouble appeared. It did the opposite. The euro’s survival depends on Frankfurt finally assuming its role as leader. Read full article.

How to Build an EU that Works

The EU’s current framework cannot prevent or manage fiscal problems effectively. This does not mean that it is too late to build one that can. In addition to better financial cooperation, eurozone countries need to deepen their political coordination as well, says Lorenze Bini Smaghi, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank. 

Many observers think the entire European construct — its institutions and currency — has been so damaged by the Greek financial crisis that it might not survive. But is forecasting the euro’s demise premature? Lorenzo Bini Smaghi explains why the Greek crisis will not ruin Europe’s monetary union in his article for Foreign Affairs.