Has Europe succeeded in achieving political integration? How?

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Ashley Kannan eNotes educator| Certified Educator

If we are examining this question in terms of ideology, then I would say that the answer is in the affirmative.  Europe has understood that the modern reality is one where liberal democracy is the model to be accepted by all nations.  The Iron Curtain that descended on Europe is not an obstacle to political integration any more.  At the same time, the globalized reality of the new world setting has helped to facilitate the growth of a unified currency of the Euro and this has also helped to link European fates to one another.  I do believe that the line between political and economic integration might be another matter to be discussed.  The implications of how much integration is going to tread into sovereignty is a critical issue.  For example, in a politically integrated and globalized Europe, how much intervention is going to be required in a setting like Greece, where economic chaos has a chance to undermine political stability?  To what extent do other European nations help Greece or isolate themselves from it?  I think that this becomes one of the critical questions facing the new reality of political integration in Europe.