Is it possible that the ease with which Germany and France ignored the EU stabilization pact convinced Putin that he has nothing to lose by making the environmentalists happy? After all, not living up to signed commitments is an acceptable behavior in Europe. It is a small wonder that the Europeans do not get excited when Saddam, the Ayatollas or the North Koreans fail to abide by their international commitment. These leader merely follow the European example.

If Europeans remain hostile to American efforts to democratize the Middle East, it is because they are doing their best to bureaucratize Europe. As I heard Anatol Lieven argue at a Carnegie instititue discussion. Modernization does not mean democracy, human rights or private property. It means bureaucracy and infra-structure. That is the reason that as Delcan Galney argues in a recent FPRI.org paper, EUROPE'S CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY is A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. Why? Because

The draft constitution represents the political bureaucracy's attempt to consolidate its hold over the decision-making process in the EU, which affects Europeans' daily lives in fundamental ways. Should it come to pass, the constitution would call for a presidential head of Europe, in the role of the president of the European Council, who will have global recognition as president of the Union, in whose election the people will have no say. Their vote and opinion are neither required nor desired.