What is the current state of Europe and Britain as we enter 2008?
Major trends in Europe include the ongoing drive for greater integration and unity within the European Union—leading the EU to desire political and even military clout to match its economic power with the goal of rivaling and eventually surpassing the United States (see " The Coming European Superpower ").
Ongoing conflict between Muslim minorities and Western governments is exemplified in French riots by young Muslims of North African descent. A British teacher in Sudan was threatened with 40 lashes, a prison sentence and a fine for apparently innocently naming (in concert with her students) a teddy bear "Muhammad."
This name is common among Muslim males, but misusing it is deemed an insult to the prophet Muhammad—in this case supposedly by assigning it to an animal (though a teddy bear is not really an animal of course). Some Sudanese called for her execution for insulting Islam. After 15 days in a Sudanese jail, she was pardoned and has since returned to England.
Columnist Melanie Phillips concluded her article in response by saying: "This country [Britain] in turn has to get real and see the plight of Mrs. Gibbons [the teacher] as yet another symptom of the great onslaught being mounted against our civilization —and towards which not one inch of ground must be given if that civilization is to survive" ( Daily Mail, Dec. 3, 2007).
Unlike many peers in her generation, she has the eyes to see the road ahead—where these extremist Islamic outbursts are taking us.
And Kosovo is back in the news, stating its intention to declare independence from Serbia. The headline in The Independent reads, "Serbs prepare to flee from Kosovo as another conflict in the Balkans looms" (Dec. 7, 2007).
