The boys at the pub were animated this evening, what with the goings on with France, Germany, Russia, NATO, the US, and of course Britain.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's public harrangue against Donald Rumsfelt was dissected word by word, by those who could read Der Spiegel at least..
Colin Powell's comment about Inspector Couseau and how it reflected on the French themselves brought out a quiet chuckle..
The ever widening rift in NATO is being sagely nodded over..
..and Turkey's invocation of NATO Article 4, something never done before, called for many a half pint to disappear before composure was regained along the bar..
NATO seems to be foundering.. as Rumsfelt said following meetings this morning with Australian Prime Minister John Howard, if NATO happens to disagree with beefing up forces in Turkey, too bad. They'll do it anyway.
It is perhaps a time to re-think NATO, and the UN itself. The divisions between the alliance of 'Old Europe and New Russia' may be a sign of what's to come, as the EU becomes a more cohesive and viable force.
It would of course, leave Britain again, the most easterly of the western countries.. but so has it ever been..
Ahh. one more issue that had the fingers beside many a nose.. the US has announced plans to re-shape it's military presence in Europe itself, reducing the compliment of 100 thousand troops now on station on the Continent.. not that the US would pull out entirely, but this does signal a loosening of ties..